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MR. WEBSTER'S 



SPEECHES 



AT 



BUFFALO, SYRACUSE, AND ALBANY, 



MAY, 1851, 



SECOND EDITION. 



MIRROR OFFICE, 

NEW-YORK. 



P; Resbitt & Co., Printers, cor. Wall anil N V 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by 

HIRAM FULLER, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. District I ; '>nrt for the S >utl,ern 1> strict 
of .W\v-\ '.rk. 



f .Newspapers an. i Periodicals a-e permitted to copy] 



/ 

MR. WEBSTER'S 



7t* 



PE 




AT 



BUFFALO, SYRACUSE, AND ALBANY, 



MAY, 1851 



V 



MIRROR OFFICE, 

NEW- YORK. 






" 




N'>- l >itt & Co., Printers and Stationera,'Tontine Builling, corner of 
Wall unci Water Strict-, New- York. 



Mr. Webster visited New York, in company with the President of the United 
States, and several Members of the Cabinet, to join in celebrating the completion 
of the New York and Erie Rail Road. The distinguished party were received 
along the entire route with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of respect ; and 
were called upon everywhere to address the assembled multitudes. At Buffalo, 
the citizens united, without distinction of party, in tendering a public Dinner to 
Mr. Webster, also inviting him to address the masses in the Park. Similar invi- 
tations were extended to him by the people of Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, am? 
every other city through which he passed. 

As the Speeches delivered on these occasions were but partially and imperfectly 
reported, vMr. Webster, in compliance with the wishes of his friends, has corrected 
the Speeches embraced in the following pages ; and they are now entitled to public 
confidence, and commended to a careful perusal, as containing the deliberate senti- 
ments, familiarly expressed, of the Great Expounder and Defender of thc 
Constitution. • 

Mirror Office, New York, June 9th, 1851 



SPEECHES 



HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, 



AT 



BUFFALO, SYRACUSE, & ALBANY, 

MAY, 1851. 



SPEECH AT BUFFALO. 

Fellow-Citizens of the city of Buffalo, I am very glad to see you ; I meet 
you with pleasure. It is not the first time, fellow-citizens, that I have 
been in Buffalo ; and I have always come to it with gratification. It 
is a great distance from my own home. I am thankful that circumstances 
have enabled me to be here again, and I regret that untoward events de- 
prived me of the pleasure of being with you when your distinguished fellow- 
citizen, the President of the United States, visited you, and received 
from you, as he deserved, not only a respectful, but a cordial and enthusiastic 
welcome. The President of the United States has been a resident among you 
for more than half his life. He has represented you in the State and Na- 
tional Councils. You know him and all his relations, both public and pri- 
vate, and it would be bad taste in me to say anything of him, except that 
I wish to say, with emphasis, that since my connection with him in the ad- 
ministration of the government of the United States, I have fully con- 
curred with him in all his great and leading measures. This might be in- 
ferred from the fact that I have been one of his ordinary advisers. But I 
do not wish to let it rest on that presumption ; I wish to declare that the 
principles of the President, as set forth in his annual message, his letters, 
and all documents and opinions which have proceeded from him, or been 
issued by his authority, in regard to the great question of the times ; all 
these principles are my principles ; and if he is wrong in them, I am, (ap- 
plause) and always shall be. (Applause.) 

Gentlemen, it has been suggested that it would be pleasant and agree- 
able to the citizens of Buffalo, and their neighbors in the county of Erie, that 
I should state to you my opinions, such as they are, on the present condi- 
tion of the country, its prospects, its hopes, and its dangers ; and, fellow- 
citizens, I intend to do that, this day, and this hour, as far as my strength 
will permit. 



8 

Gentlemen, believe me, I know where I am. I know to whom I am 
speaking. I know for whom I am speaking. T know I am here in this 
nini'ularly j>r< '-]>• n >u.< and powerful section of the United States, Wt stern 
N. w fork, ana I know the character of the men who constitute Western 
New fork. I know thej are sons of lib rty, one and all; that they suck- 
ed in liberty with their mothers' milk ; inherited it with their blood ; that 
it i- the Bubjeot of their daily contemplation and watchful thought. They 
are men of a very singular quality of condition, for a million and a half of 
people. There are thousands of men around as, and here before as, who 
till their OWn BOlls with their own hands ; and others who earn their own 
Livelihood by their own labor in the workshops, and ether places of indus- 
try; and they are independent, in principle and in condition, having nei- 
ther slaves nor masters, and not intending to have either. These are the men 
who constitute, to a great extent, the people of Western New York. But 
the Bchool-houses 1 know are among them. Education is among them. 

TIm-v read, and write, and think. And here arc women, educated, 
retiued, and intelligent; and here are men who know the history of their 
country, and the laws of their country, and the institutions of their country ; 
and men, lovers of liberty always, and yet lovers of liberty under 
the Constitution of the country, and who mean to maintain that Constitution 
with all their Btrength, so help them God. (Great applause.) I hope 
these observations will satisfy you that I know where I am, under what re- 
sponsibility I Bpeak, and before whom I appear; and 1 have no desire that 
any word 1 shall say this day, shall be withholden from you or your chil- 
dren, or your neighbors, or the whole world ; for I speak before you 
and before my country, and, if it be not too solemn to say so, before the 
great Author of all things. 

Gentlemen, there is but one question in this country now ; or if there 
be Others, the others are but secondary, or so subordinate, that they are all 
absorbed in that great and leading question ; and that is neither more nor 
less than this: Can we preserve the union of the States, not by ooeroion, 
nol by military power, nol by angry controversies; 'but can we of this ge- 
neration, you and I, your friends and my friends, can we bo preserve the 
union of these States, by such administration of the powers of the Con- 
stitution, as shall give content and satisfaction to all who live under it, and 
draw us together, not by military power, but by the silken cords of mutual, 
fraternal, patriotic affection ? That is the question, and no other. Gen- 
tlemen, I believe in party distinctions. I am a party man. There are 
questions belonging to party, in which I am concerned, and there are opi- 
nions ent -it : i iii. I by other parties which 1 repudiate ; but what of all that ? 
If a house be divided against itself, it will fall, and crush everybody in it. 
We must Bee thai we maintain the government which is over as. We 
must Bee that we uphold the Constitution, and we musl do bo without re- 
gard t i party. Now, how did this question arise f The question is for- 
ever mi I I I [daresay if you know much of me, or of my course of pub- 
lic conduct,for the last fourteen months, you have heard of my attend- 
ing Onion meetings, and ofmy fervenl admonitions at Union meetings. Well, 
what was the object of thoee meetings ; What was their purpose! The 
object and purpose have been designedl) or thoughtlessly misrepresented. 
1 had an invitation to attend a Union meeting in the county of Westchester ; I 

! Q >1 gO, but WTOte a letter Well, some wisi man of the east said he did 



9 

not think it was very necessary to hold Union meetings in Westchester. He 
did not think there were many disunionists ahout Tarry town! And so in many 
parts of New York, there is a total misapprehension of the purpose and object 
of these Union meetings. Every one knows, there is not a county, or a city, 
or a hamlet in the State of New York, that is ready to go out of the Union, 
except some small bodies of fanatics. Thei - e is no man so insane in the 
whole States, outside a lunatic asylum, as to wish it. But that is not the 
point. We all know that every man and every neighborhood, and all cor- 
porations, in the State of New York are attached to the Union, and have no 
idea of withdrawing from it, except those I have mentioned. But that is 
not, I repeat, the point ; that is not the point. The question, fellow-citi- 
zens, (and I put it to you now as the real question,) the question is, Whe- 
ther you and the rest of the people of the great State of New York, and of 
all the States, will so adhere to the Constitution, will so enact and main- 
tain laws to preserve that instrument, that you will not only remain in the 
Union yourselves, but permit your brethren to remain in it, and help to 
perpetuate it ? That is the question. Will you concur in measures neces- 
sary to maintain the Union ? or will you oppose such measures ? That is 
the whole point of the case. 

You have thirty or forty members of Congress from New York ; you have 
your proportion in the United States Senate. We have many members of 
Congress from New England Will they maintain the laws that are pass- 
ed for the administration of the Constitution, and respect the rights of the 
South, so that the Union may be held together ; and not only that we may 
not go out of it ourselves, which we are not inclined to do, but that by 
asserting and maintaining the rights of others, they may also remain in 
the Union ? Now, gentlemen, permit me to say, that I speak of no con- 
cessions. If the South wish any concession from me, they won't get it ; 
not a hair's breadth of it. If they come to my house for it, they will not 
find it, and the door will be shut : I concede nothing. But I say that I 
will maintain for them, as I will maintain for you, to the utmost of my 
power, and in the face of all danger, their rights under the Constitution, 
and your rights under the Constitution. (Cries of " Good, Good," &c.) 
And I shall never be found to falter in one or the other. (Tremendous 
applause.) It is obvious to every one, and we all know it, that the origin 
of the great disturbance which agitates the country, is the existence of 
Slavey in some of the States ; but we must meet that subject ; we must 
consider it ; we. must deal with it, earnestly, honestly, and justly. From 
the mouth of the St. Johns to the confines of Florida, there existed in the 
year of grace, seventeen hundred and seventy-five, thirteen colonies of 
English origin, planted at different times, and coming from different parts 
of England, bringing with them various habits, and establishing, each for 
itself, institutions entirely different from the institutions which they left, and 
in many cases from each other. But they were all of English origin. 
The English language was theirs ; Shakspeare and Milton were theirs, and 
the Christian religion was theirs ; and these things held them together 
by the force of a common character. The aggressions of the parent State 
compelled them to set up for independence. They declared independence,, 
and that immortal act, pronounced on the fourth of July, seventeen hun- 
dred and seventy-six, made them independent. That was an act of union 
by the United States in Congress assembled. But this act of itself did 



10 

nothing to establish over them a general government. They had had ar- 
ticlee of confederation before, to 'any on tin- war. Thej bad a Congress. 
They bad articles of confederation afterwards, to prosecute the war. But 
thos far thej were .-till, essentially, Beparate and independent, each of 
the other. They bad entered into a Bimple confederacy, and nothing 
more. No State was bonnd by what it did not itself agree to, or what 
was done according to the provisions of the Confederation. That was 
the Btate of things, gentlemen, at that time. The war went on ; victory 
perched on the American eagle ; onr independence was acknowledged. 
The States were then united together under a confederacy of very limited 
powers. It could levy no taxes. It could not enforce it- own decrees. 
It was a confederacy, instead of a united government. Experience 
showed that this was insufficient and inefficient. And, therefore, beginning 
as far back almost as the close of the war, measures were taken for the for- 
mation of a united government, a government in the strict s< use of the 
term, a government that could pass law- binding on the citizens "fall the 
States, ami which could enforce those law- bj it- i xecutive powers, having 
them interpreted by a judicial power belonging to tin' Government itself, 
and vet, a Government of strictly limited powers. Well, gentlemen, this 
Led to the formation of the Constitution of the United States, and that in- 
strument was framed mi the idea of a limited I rovernment. It proposed to 
leave, and 'lid leave, the different domestic institutions of the Beveral States 
to themselves. It did not propose consolidation. It did not propose that 
the law- of Virginia should he the law- of New York, or that the law- of 
New Fork should be the laws of Massachusetts. Lt proposed only that, 
for certain purposes, and to a certain extent, there should be a united 
Government, and that that Government should have the power of exe- 
cuting it- own laws. All the rest was left to the several State-. And we 
now come, gentlemen, to the very point of the case. At that time sla- 
very existed in the Southern State-, entailed upon them in the time of the 
supremacy of British laws over us. There it was. [t was obnoxious 
to the Middle and Eastern States, ami honestly and seriously disliked, 

a- the records of the country will show, by the Southern State- thein- 

Belves. Now, how were they to deal with it ? Were the Northern 
and Middle States to exclude from the Government those States of the 

South which had produced a Washington, a Laurens, and other distin- 
guished patriots, who had so truly served, and so greatly honored, the 

Whole COUntry? Were they to he excluded I'mlll the H'W (ioVertl- 

ment because they tolerated the institution of Slavery? Your, our 
fathers di 1 not think so. They did not Bee that it would he of the least 
ntage to tic- Blaves of the Southern State-, to cut off the South from 
all connection with the North. Their views of humanity led to no such 
result ; and, of course, when the Constitution was framed and established, 
and adopl d h\ you, here in New York, and hy New England, it contained 
an express provision of Becurity to the persons who Yw,;\ in tie' Southern 
St it.-, in regard to fugitives who owed them service ; thai is to say, the fu- 
gitive from service or labor, it was stipulated, Bhould he restored to his master 
or own ir if lie escaped into a free State. Well, that had been the history 

of the country from its first Bettlement. It was a matter of common 

practice to return fugitives before the Constitution was formed. Fugitive 

slaves from Virginia to Massachusetts were restored by the].,,, pi,, of Ma- 



11 

sacliusetts. At that day there was a great system of apprenticeship at 
the North, and many apprentices at the North, taking advantage of cir- 
cumstances, and of vessels sailing to the South, thereby escaped ; and 
they were restored on proper claim and proof. That led to a clear, 
express, and well-defined provision in the Constitution of the country on 
the subject. Now, I know that all these things are common ; that they 
have been stated a thousand times ; but in these days of perpetual discon- 
tent and misrepresentation, to state things a thousand times is not enough ; 
for there are more than a thousand persons, whose consciences, one would 
think, lead them to make it a duty to deny, misrepresent, falsify, and cover 
up truths. 

Now here is the Constitution, fellow-citizens, and I have taken the pains 
to transcribe therefrom these words, so that he who runs may read : — 

" No PERSON HELD TO SERVICE OR LABOR IN ONE StATE UNDER THE 
LAWS THEREOF, ESCAPING INTO ANOTHER, SHALL, IN CONSEQUENCE OF ANY 
LAW OR REGULATION THEREIN, BE DISCHARGED FROM SUCH SERVICE OR 
LABOR, BUT SHALL BE DELIVERED UP ON CLAIM OF THE PARTY TO WHOM 
SUCH SERVICE OR LABOR MAY BE DUE." 

Is there any mistake about that ? Is there any forty shilling attorney 
here to make a cmestion of it ? No. I will not disgrace my profession by 
supposing such a thing. There is not in or out of an attorney's office in 
the county of Erie, or elsewhere, one who could raise a doubt, or a par- 
ticle of a doubt, about the meaning of this provision of the Constitu- 
tion. He may act as witnesses do, sometimes, on the stand. He may 
wriggle and twist, and say he can 't tell, or cannot remember. I have 
seen many such exhibitions in my time, on the part of witnesses, to 
falsify and deny the truth. But there is no man who can read these 
words of the Constitution of the United States, and say they are not 
clear and imperative. " No person," the constitution says, " held to ser- 
vice or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, 
shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from 
such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on the claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due." Why, you are told by 
forty conventions in Massachusetts, in Ohio, in New York, in Syracuse, 
and elsewhere, that if a colored man comes here, he comes as a freeman ; 
that is, a non sequitur. It is not so. If he comes as a fugitive from labor, 
the Constitution says he is not a freeman, and that he shall be delivered up 
to those who are entitled to his service. Now, gentlemen, that is the Con- 
stitution of the United States. Gentlemen, do we, or do we not, mean to 
conform to it, and to execute that part of the Constitution as well as the 
rest of it ? I suppose there are before me here members of Congress. I 
suppose there are here members of the State Legislature, or executive 
officers under the State government. I suppose there are judicial magis- 
trates of New York, executive officers, assessors, supervisors, justices of 
the peace, and constables, before me. Allow me to say, gentlemen, that 
there is not, that there cannot be, any one of these officers in this assem- 
blage, or elsewhere,who has not, according to the form of his usual obligation, 
bound himself by a solemn oath, before God, to support the Constitution. 
They have taken their oaths on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, or by 
uplifted hand, as the case may be, or by a solemn affirmation, as is the practice 
in some cases. But among all of them, there is not a man who holds, nor 



12 

is there any man who can hold, any office in the gift of the United States, 
or in this" State, or In any other State, who 'Iocs not become hound, 
by the solemn obligation of an oath, that be will support the Consti- 
tution of tip- United States. Well, is he to tamper with that? Is he to 
f :i ] t .,. ; ( ; Qtlem sn, our political duties are as much matters of conscience 
as any other duties ; our sacred domestic ties, our most endearing social 
relations, are no more the subject for conscientious consideration and con- 
Bcientious discharge, than the duties we enter upon under the Constitution 
of the United States. The bonds of political brotherhood, are the bonds 
which hold us together from Maine to Georgia. 

Now, gentlemen, that is the plain story of the Constitution of the Uni- 
ted Stat' -. "ii the question of slavery. ( ieiitleinen, I contend, and have 
always cent snded, that after the adoption of the Constitution, any measure 
of the ' lovernment calculated to bring more slave territory into the United 
State-, was beyond the power of the Constitution, and against its provi- 
sions. That is my opinion, and it always has been my opinion. It was in- 
consistent, or thought to be so, in Jefferson's time, to attach Louisiana to 
the United St \ treaty with France was made for that purpose. But 

Jefferson's opinion at that moment was, that an alteration of the Consti- 
tution was necessary to enable it to be done. In consequence of conside- 
rations, which I need not now recur to, that opinion was abandoned, and 

Louisiana was admitted by law, without any provision or alteration in the 
Constitution. At that time, 1 was too young to hold any office, or take 
any -hare in the political affairs of the country. Louisiana was admitted 
as a Blave State, and became entitled to her representation in Congress on 
the principle of a mixed basis. Florida was afterwards admitted. Then, 
!,„,. 1 was nut of Congress ; 1 had been in it once ; but I had nothing to 
do with the Florida treaty, or the admission of Florida. My opinion re- 
main- unchanged, that it was not within the original bco] r design of the 

Constitution to admit new States out of foreign territory; and that for 

one, I never would consent; and no matter what may be said at the 

cuse convention, or at any other assemblage of insane persons, I 

never would consent, and never have consented, thai there Bhould be 

of slave territory beyond what the old thirteen States had at 

the time of the formation of the Union. Never, never. Tic man 

can't show his race to me and say he can prove that I ever departed 

from that doctrine. He would sneak away, and slink away, OT hire a 

mercenary Press, that he might cry out what an apostate from liberty 

Daniel Wei, -in- ha- become. (Laughter and cheers.) He knows himself 

to be a hypocrite and a falsifier. But, gentlemen, I was in public life when 

th • proposition to annex Texas to the United State- was brought forward 

You kn-w the revolution in Texas, which divided that country from Mi s- 

iccurred in the year 1835 or '36. I saw then, and I don't know that it 

required any particular foresight, that it would be the very next thing to 

bring Texas, which was designed to be a alaveholding State, into this 

Union. I did not wait. I Bought an occasion to proclaim my utter aversion 

to any Bucb measure, and I determined to resisl it with all my strength to 

the last. Now, gentlemen, it is not for your edification, 1 am sure, that I 

now revive what 1 have before spoken in the presence of this assembly 

I was in tin- city in the year 1837, and long before 1 lefl New Fori on 

that excursion, En >' of which I went to the South and returned 



- 



13 

here, my friends in New York were kind enough to offer me a public din- 
ner as a testimony of their public regard. I went out of my way, 
on that occasion, for the purpose of showing what I anticipated in the at- 
tempt to annex Texas as a slave territory, and said it should be opposed 
hj me to the last extremity. And in Niblo's Garden, in March, 1837, I 
made a speech. Well, there was the press all around me. The whig 
press and the democratic press. Some spoke in terms commendatory 
enough of my speech, but all agreed that I took pains to step out of my 
way to denounce in advance the annexation of Texas as slave territory to 
the United States. I said on that occasion : 

" Gentlemen, we all see that, by whomsoever possessed, Texas is likely 
to be a slaveholding country ; and I frankly avow my entire unwillingness 
to do anything that shall extend the slavery of the African on this conti- 
nent, or add other slaveholding States to the Union. When I said that I 
regarded slavery as a great moral and political evil, I only used language 
that has been adopted by distinguished men, themselves citizens of slave- 
holdino- States. I shall do nothing, therefore, to extend or encourage its 
further extension. We have slavery already amongst us. The Constitu- 
tion found it amongst us. It recognized it, and gave it solemn guarantees. 
To the full extent of these guarantees we are all bound in honor, in justice, 
and by the Constitution. All the stipulations contained in the Constitu- 
tion in favor of the slaveholding States which are already in the Union, 
ought to be fulfilled, and, so far as depends on me, shall be fulfilled, in the 
fullness of their spirit, and to the exactness of their letter. Slavery, as it 
exists in the States, is beyond the reach of Congress. It is the concern 
of the States themselves. They have never submitted it to Congress, and 
Congress has no right or power over it. I shall concur, therefore, in no 
act, no measure, no menace, no indication or purpose, which shall inter- 
fere, or threaten to interfere, with the exclusive authority of the several 
States over the subject of slavery, as it exists within their respective limits. 
All this appears to me to be a matter of plain and imperative duty. But 
when we come to speak of admitting new States, the subject assumes a 
new and entirely different aspect. Our rights and our duties are then both 
different. The free States and all the States are then at liberty to accept 
or reject. When it is proposed to bring new members into the political 
partnership, the old members have a right to say on what terms such part- 
ners are to come in, and what they are to bring along with them. In my 
opinion, the people of the United States will not consent to bring in a new, 
vastly extensive, and slaveholding country, large enough for half a dozen 
or a dozen States, into the Union. In my opinion, they ought not to 
consent to it." 

Gentlemen, I was mistaken ; Congress did consent to the bringing in of 
Texas. They did consent, and I was a false prophet. Your own State 
consented, and the majority of the representatives of New York consented. 
I went into Congress before the final consummation of the deed, and there 
I fought, holding up both my hands, and proclaiming, with a voice stronger 
than it now is, my remonstrances against the whole of it. But you would 
have it so, and you did have it so. Nay, gentlemen, I will tell the truth, 
whether it shames the devil or not. (Laughter.) Persons who have as- 
pired high as lovers of liberty, as eminent lovers of the Wilmot Proviso, as 
eminent Free-soil men, and who have mounted over our heads, and trodden 



14 



us down as if we were mere Blav< b, they are thi men, the very men, that 
brought Texas into this country, insisting thai tiny are the onlj true lovers 
of liberty; and yel thai is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth, and 1 declare it beforoyon, this day. Look to the journals. "With- 
out the oonsi el of New fork, Texas would not haw com. • into the I'nion, 
under either the original resolutions or afterwards. But New JTork 
for the measure. The two Senators from New Fork voted for it, and 
tui ii> '1 the question, and you may thank them for the glory, the renown, 
and the happiness of haying fire or six Blave State- added to the Onion. 
■ sensation ) Don'1 blame me for it. Let them answer who did th< 
deed, and who are now proclaiming liberty, crying up their free-soil creed, 
and using it for humbug and trading purposes. 

G otlemen, who aided in bringing in Texas? Tt was all fairly told to 
you, both beforehand, and afterwards. You heard Moses and the prophets, 
| laughter, but if one had risen from the dead, such was your devotion to 
that policy, at that time, that you would not have heard him, or listened 
to him for a moment. I do not, of course, Bpeak of the persons now b tr< 
before me, hut of the general political tone in New Fork, and especially of 
thos • who are now free-soil apostles. Well, all that I do not complain of, 
bul I will not now, or hereafter, before the country, or the world, consent 
to he numbered among those who introduced new slave power into the 
I'nion. I did all in my power to prevent it. (Applause.; Then again, 
gentlemen, the Mexican war broke out. Vast territory was acquired, and 
the peace was made ; and, much as T disliked the war, I disliked the peace 
more, because it brought in these territories. 1 wished for peace indeed, 
but T desired to strike out the grant of territory on the one side, and the 
payment of the $12,000,000 on the other. That territory was unknown. 
I did not know what it might he. The plan came from the Smith. I 
knew that certain Southern gentlemen wished the acquisition of California 
and New Mexico, and Utah, as a means of extending slave power and 
slave population ; almost everything was unknown about the country. I 
did not fall into their idea much ; but seeing a quarrel, as I conceived, 
seeing how much it would distract the I'nion, I vote,! against the peac< 
with Mexico. I voted against the acquisition. I wanted none of her 
territory, California, New Mexico, nor Utah. They were rather ultra- 
American, as 1 thought. They were far from us, and I bbw thai they 
mighl lead to a political disturbance, and I voted against them all, againsl 
the treaty and against the peace, and I am glad of it, rathe)' than hav< 
the territories. Seeing thai it would be an occasion of dispute, thai ly th< 
controversy the whole Union would be agitated, Messrs. Berrien, Badger, 
and otifer respectable and distinguished men of the South, voted against 
the acquisition, and the treaty which secured it ; ami if the men of the 
North had voted the same way, we should have been Bpared all the diffi- 
culties that have grown OUt Of it. We should have had the peace, without 

the territories. (Applause.) Now, there is no sort of doubt, gentlemen, 
that there were Borne persons in the South who Bupposedthal California, it 
it cane- in at all, would come in as a slave State. You know the extraor- 
dinary i Vi nts which immediately occurred. Yon know thai Californiare- 
ceived a rush from the Northern people, and thai an African davc could 
qo more live there than he could live on the top of Mount Hecla. 01 ne- 

G a live State, and that, no doubt, was a source ot much 



15 

disappointment to the South. And then there was New Mexico and Utah ; 
what was to be clone with them ? Why, gentlemen, from the best investi- 
gation I had given the subject, and the reflection I had devoted to it, I 
was of the opinion that the mountains of New Mexico and Utah could no mor- 
sustain American slavery than the snows of Canada. I saw it was impose 
sible. I thought so then ; it is quite evident now. Therefore, gentle- 
men, when it was proposed in Congress to apply the Wilmot Proviso to 
New Mexico and Utah, it appeared to me just as absurd as to apply it here 
in "Western New-York. I saw that the snow hills, the eternal mountains, 
and the climate of those countries, would never support slavery. No man 
could carry a slave there with any expectation of profit. It could not be 
done ; and as the South regarded the Proviso as merely a source of irrita- 
tion, and by some as designed to irritate, I was not willing to adopt it, 
and, therefore, I saw no occasion for applying the Wilmot Proviso to New 
Mexico or Utah. I voted accordingly, and who doubts now the correct- 
ness of that vote ? The law admitting those territories passed without 
any proviso. Is there a slave, or will there ever be one, in either of those 
territories ? Why, there is not a man in the United States so stupid as 
not to see at this moment, that such a thing was wholly unnecessary, and 
that it was only calculated to irritate and to offend. And I am not one 
who is disposed to create irritation, or give offence to our brothers, or to 
break up fraternal friendship, without cause. The question was open 
whether slavery should or should not go to New Mexico or Utah. There 
is no slavery there, there is not the shining face of an African there. It 
is utterly impracticable, and utterly ridicidous to suppose that slavery 
could exist there, and no one, who does not mean to deceive, will now pre- 
tend it can exist there. 

Well, gentlemen, we have a race of agitators all over the country, some 
connected with the press ; some, I am sorry tD say, connected with the 
learned professions. They agitate ; their livelihood consists in agitating ; 
their freehold, their copyhold, their capital, their all in all, depend on 
the excitement of the public mind. Gentlemen, these things were going 
on at the commencement of the year 1850. There were two great ques- 
tions before the public. There was the question of the Texan boundary, 
and of a government for Utah and New Mexico, which I consider as one 
question ; and there was the question of making a provision for the resto- 
ration of fugitive slaves. Gentlemen, on these subjects, I have something 
to say. Texas, as you know, established her independence of Mexico, by 
her revolution and the battle of San Jacinto, which made her a sovereign 
power. I have already stated to you, what I then anticipated from the 
movement, that she would ask to come into the Union as a slave State. 
We admitted her in 1845, and we admitted her as a slave State. We ad- 
mitted her in 1845, and we admitted her with her own boundaries ; remem- 
ber that. She claimed by conquest all that territory which was commonly 
called New Mexico, East of the Piio Grande. She claimed also those lim- 
its which her Constitution had declared and established as the proper lim- 
its of Texas. This was her claim, and when she was admitted into the 
United States, the United States did not define her territory. They ad- 
mitted her as she was. We took her as she defined her own limits, and with 
the power of making four additional slave States. I say " we," but I do 
not mean that I was one ; I mean the United States admitted her. Now, 



16 

to judge fairly, let us go back to 1850. What was the state of things in 
[850 ; There was Texas claiming all that, or a great part <>f that, which 
the United States had acquired from Mexico as New Mexico. She stated 
that it belonged to her by conquest and by her admission into the United 
. and she was ready to maintain her claims by force of arm-. Re- 
collecl that is not all. A man must be ignorant of the history of the 
• v who does not know, that at the commencement of 1850 there was 
a great agitation throughout tin- whole Smith. Who does not know that 
six or Beven of the largest States of the South had already taken measures 
for separation ; were preparing for disunion in Borne way . : They e, incur- 
red, apparently, at least Borne of them, with Texas, while Texas was pre- 
pared or preparing to enforce her rights by force of arm--. Troops were 
enlisted, and don't von remember, gentlemen, at this time, and in this 
state of things, how many thousand persons in the South were disaffected 
towards tie I'nion, or were desirous for breaking it up, or were ready to 
join Texas ; to join her ranks, and sec what they could make, in a war to 
establish the rights of Texas to New Mexico ? The public mind was dis- 
turbed. Tli are were thousands and thousands ready to join Texas. Now, 
a great part of the South at this time was disaffected toward- the Union. 
These very men were in a condition to fall into any course of things that 
should be violent and destructive. "Well then, gentlemen, what was to be 
done let me ask again, as far as Texas was concerned ? Allow me to say, 
gentlemen, there are two sorts of foresight. There is a military foresight, 
which - ses what will be the result of an appeal to arms ; and there is ako 
a statesmanlike foresight, which looks not to the result of battles and 
carnage, but to the results of political disturbances, the violence of faction 
carri 1 into military operations, and the horrors attendant on civil war. 

1 never had a doubt, gentlemen, that if the administration of General 
Taylor had -one to war, and had sent troops into New Mexico, that he 
would have whipped the Texas forces in a week. The power on one 
side was far superior to all the power on the other. But what then ? 
What if Texan troops, assisted by thousands of volunteers, from the dis- 
affected Stat— , had gone to New Mexico, and had been defeated and 
tuned hack, would that have scttUd the boundary question : -V.w, gen- 
tleman, 1 wish I had ten thousand voices. 1 wish I could draw around me 
the whole people of the United States, and T wish I .mild make them 
all hear what I now declare on my own conscience, before the Power who 
sit- .mi high, and who will judge you and me hereafter, as my solemn 
belief, that if this Texas controversy had not been Bettl< d by Congress in 
the manner called the adjustment measures, civil war would have ensued ; 
i, American blood, would have hem shed ; and who can tell what els* 
would have been the consequence . : Gentlemen, in an honorable war, it 

:i foreign foe invade OS, if our rights were threatened, if it war,- m o— ar_\ 

to defend them by arms, 1 am not afraid of hi 1. And, if 1 am too old 

myself, I bope there are those connected with me who are young, and will- 
ing t.. d sfend their country to the last drop of their own blood. Sensa- 
tion But I cannot express the horror I (<;<] at the shedding of blood in 
a controversy between one of the-, ■ States and the government of the 
Vnit - because! see in it, in the sight •■( Heaven, a total and 

entire disruption of all those ties that make us a great aid a happj people. 
G otlemen, thai was the great question, the leading question, at the 



17 

commencement of the year 1850. Then there was the other, and that 
was the matter of the Fugitive Slave Law. Let me say a word about 
that. Under the provisions of the Constitution in General Washington's 
administration, in the year 1793, there was passed a law for the restora- 
tion of fugitive slaves, by general consent. Hardly any one opposed it at 
that period ; it was thought to be necessary, in order to carry the Consti- 
tution into effect : the great men of New England and New York all con- 
curred in it. It passed, and answered all the purposes expected from 
it till about the year 1841 or 1842, when the States interfered to make 
enactments in opposition to it. The law of Congress said that State 
magistrates might execute the provisions of the law. Some of the States 
passed enactments imposing a penalty on any who exercised authority 
under the law, or assisted in its execution ; others denied the use 
of their jails to carry the law into effect ; and, generally, at the com- 
mencement of the year 1850, it was absolutely, I say it was absolutely, 
indispensable that Congress should pass some law for the execution of this 
provision of the Constitution, or else give up that provision entirely. 
That was the question. I was in Congress when the subject was pro- 
posed. I was for a proper law. I had, indeed, proposed a different law ; 
I was of opinion that a summary trial by a jury might be had, which would 
satisfy the prejudices of the people, and produce no harm to those who 
claimed the service of fugitives ; but I left the Senate, and went to 
another station, before the law was passed. The law of 1850 passed. 
Now I undertake, as a lawyer, and on my professional character, to say 
to you and to all, that the law of 1850 is decidedly more favorable to 
the fugitive than General Washington's law of 1793 ; and I tell you why. 
In the first place, the present law places the power in much higher hands ; 
in the hands of independent judges of the Supreme, and Circuit Courts, 
and District Courts, and Commissioners who are appointed to office for 
their law learning. Every fugitive is brought before a tribunal of high 
character, of eminent ability, of respectable station. Well, then, in the 
second place, when a claimant comes from Virginia to New York, to say 
that one A or one B has run away, or is a fugitive from service, or labor, 
he brings with him a record of the county from which he comes, and 
that record must be sworn to before a magistrate, and certified by the 
county clerk, and bear an official seal. The affidavit must state that A 
or B (as the case may be) had departed under such and such circum- 
stances, and had gone to another State ; and that record, under 
seal is, by the Constitution of the United States, entitled to full 
credit in every State. Well, the claimant or his agent comes here, and he 
presents to you the seal of the courts of Virginia, that A or B had escaped 
from service. He must prove that he is here. He brings a witness, and 
asks if this is the man, and he proves it ; or, in ten cases out of eleven, 
the answer would be, " Yes, niassa, I am your slave ; I did escape from 
your service." 

Such is the present law ; and, as much opposed and maligned as it is, it 
is a more favorable law to the fugitive slave than the law enacted in Wash- 
ington's time, in 1793, which was sanctioned by the North as well as by the 
South. The existing, violent, and unceasing opposition, has sprung up 
in modern times. From whom does this clamor come ? Why, look 
at the proceedings of the Anti-slavery conventions ; look at their resolu 

2 



IS 

tionf. Do you find emoag all those persons who oppose this Fugitive Slave 
law, any admission, whatever, that any law ought to be passed to curry 
into effeot the solemn stipulations of the Constitution ? Tell me any such 
: tell me it* any resolution vras passed by the Convention at Syracuse, 
favoring the carrying out of the Constitution ? Not one ! The fact is, gen- 
tlemen, they oppose the whole ! they oppose the whole ! Not a man of them 
admit- that there ought to ho any law on the subject. They deny, alto- 
gether, that the provisions of the Constitution ought to be carried into ef- 
fect. Well, what do they Bay : Look at the proceedings of the Anti-slavery 
conventions in Ohio, Massachus tts, and at Syracuse, in the State of New 
York. What « 1 . . they Bay ; u That, bo help them God, no colored man 
shall be sent from the State of New Fork, back to his master in Virginia !" 
Do Tint they Bay that : and, for the fulfillment of that, they " pledge their 
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." (Laughter.) Their sacred 
honor ! ! (Laughter.) They pledge their sacred honor to violate the laws 
of the United States ; they pledge their sacred honor to resist their execu- 
tion ; they pledge their sacred honor to commit treason against their 
country ! 

I have already stated,, gentlemen, what your observation of these things 
must have taught you. I will only recur to the subject for a moment, for 
the purpose of persuading you, as public men and private men, as ^ood 
men and patriotic men, that you ought, to the extent of your ability and 
influence, to see to it, that such laws are' established and maintained as 
shall keep you, and the South, and the West, and all the country together, 
as far as it is just and right, and as far as the Constitution demands. I 
say, that what is demanded of us is, to be up to our constitutional duties, 
and to do for the South what the South have a right to demand. 

Gentlemen, I have been some time before the public. My character is 
known, my life is before the country. I profess to love liberty as much as 
any man living; bul T profess to love American liberty, that liberty which 
is secured to the country by the Constitution under which we live ; and 1 
have no great opinion of that other and higher liberty which goes over the 
restraints ef law and of the Constitution. I hold the Constitution of the Tut- 
ted States to be the bulwark, the only bulwark, of our liberties and of our 
national union. I do not mean that you should become slaves under the 
Constitution. That is not American liberty. That is not the liberty of 
the Union for which our fathers fought, that liberty which has given us a 
right to be known and respected all over the world. I mean only to say, 
that 1 am for Constitutional Liberty. It is enough forme to be as fi 
the Constitution of the country makes me. 

Now, gentlemen, let me say, that, as much as T respect the character of 

the people of West >rn New York, as much as I wish to retain your good 
Opinion, if you should ever place me, hereafter, in any connection with public 
lit'''. 1 ; iii ■ tell you now that you must not expect from me the slightest 
variation, even of a hair's breadth, from the Constitution of the United 
Cries of" Good, good, trood ") I am a Northern man. 1 was 
bom at the North, educated at the North, have lived aflxnj days a! the 

North. I know five hundred Northern men to one Southern man. My 

>\ mpathi », all my sympathies, my \o\ e of liberty for all mankind, of every 

oolor, are the same as yours. My affections and hopes in that respect are 

or own. 1 wi-h to BOO all men free, all men happy. 1 have few 



19 

personal associations out of the Northern States. My people are your peo- 
ple. And yet I am told sometimes that I am not a liberty man, because 
I am not a Free-soil man. (Laughter.) What ami? What was I ever ? 
What shall I be hereafter, if I could sacrifice, for any consideration, that 
love of American liberty which has glowed in my breast since my infancy, 
and which, I hope, will never leave me till I expire r (Applause.) 

Gentlemen, I regret that slavery exists in the Southern States, but it 
is clear and certain, that Congress has no power over it. It may be, how- 
ever, that in the dispensations of Providence, some remedy for this evil 
may occur, or may be hoped for hereafter. But, in the meantime, I hold 
on to the Constitution of the United States, and you need never expect 
from me, under any circumstances, that I shall falter from it ; that I shall 
be otherwise than frank and decisive. I would not part with my charac- 
ter as a man of firmness and decision, and honor and principle, for all that 
the world possesses. You will find me true to the North, because all my 
sympathies are with the North. My affections, my children, my hopes, 
my everything, are with the North. But when I stand up before my coun- 
try, as one appointed to administer the Constitution of the country, by the 
blessing of Grod I will be just. (Great applause.) 

Gentlemen, I expect to be libeled and abused. Yes ! libeled and 
abused. But it don't disturb me. I have not lost a night's rest for a 
great many years from any such cause. I have some talent for sleeping. 
(Laughter. ) And why should I not expect to be libeled .» Is not the 
Constitution of the United States libeled and abused ? Do not some 
people call it the production of hell ? Is not Washington libeled and 
abused? Is he not called a bloodhound on the track of the African 
negro ? Are not our fathers libeled and abused by their own children ? 
And ungrateful children they are. How, then, shall I escape ? I do 
not expect to escape ; but, knowing these things, I impute no bad motive 
to any men of character and fair standing. The great settlement mea- 
sures of the last Congress are laws. Many respectable men, representatives 
from your own State and from other States, did not concur in them. I 
am ready to believe they are Americans all. They may not have thought 
them necessary ; or they may have thought these laws would be enacted 
without their concurrence. Let all that pass away. If they are now men 
who will stand by what is clone, and stand up for their country, and say 
that these laws were passed by a majority of the whole country, and 
we must stand by them, and live by them, I will respect them all as 
friends. 

Now, gentlemen, allow me to ask of you, to-day , What do you think would 
have been the condition of the country, at this time, if these laws had not 
been passed by the last Congress ? If the question of the Texas boundary 
had not been settled ? If New Mexico and Utah had been left as desert 
places, and no government had been provided for them ? And if the 
other great questions to which State laws had opposed so many obstacles, 
in the restoration of fugitives, had not been settled, I ask what would 
have been the state of this country now ? You men of Erie county, you 
men of New York, I conjure you to go home to-night and meditate on 
this subject. What would have been the state of this country, now 
at this moment, if these laws had not been passed ? I have given my 
opinion that we should have had a civil war. I refer it to you, therefore, 



20 

for your consideration; meditate on it ; do not be carried away by any 
notions or ideas of metaphysics ; think praotioally on the neat question of 
what would have been the condition of the United Stab g at this moment, 
If we had not settled these agitating questions. 

G otlemen, will you allow me, for a moment, to advert to myself ? I 
have been a long lame in public life, of course not many years remain to 
me. At the commencement of I860, I saw something of the condition of 
the country, and I thought the inevitable consequence would be civil 
war. I Baw danger in leaving Utah and New Mexico without any govern- 
ment, a prey to the power of T< cas I saw the condition of 1 1 1 i 1 1 lt ~ 
arising from the interference of some of the State- in defeating the operation 
of the Constitution in respect to the restoration of fugitive slaves. And. 
gentlemen, I made up my mind to encounter whatever might betide me ; 
and, allow me to say, something which is not entirely unworthy of notice 
A member of the Bouse of Representatives told me that he had made a li.-t 
of 140 speeches which had been made in Congress on the slavery question. 
• l That i< a very large number, my friend," 1 said ; " but how' is that ?" 
" Why," said he, tk a Northern man gets up and speaks with considerable 
power and fluency until the Speaker's hammer knocks him down. Then 
gets it]' a Southern man, and ho -peaks with more warmth, lie is nearer 
the sun, and he comes out against tlie North. He speaks his hour, and 
is in turn, knocked down. And so it has gone on until 1 have got 140 
speech* ■- on my list." "Well," said I, " where are they , : and what are 
they ?" " If the speaker," said he, " was a Northern man, he held forth 
against slavery; and if he was from the South, he abused the North ; and 
all those speeche- were sent by the members to their own localities, where 
they were the cause of the local irritation which existed at the time. No 
man read both sides. In this way the other side of the question was not 
heard." I thought that in this state of things something was to be done. 
Von cannot suppose that I was indifferent to the danger. I am a Massa- 
chusetts man, and know what Massachusetts used to be. I am a Massa- 
chusetta man. Massachusetts has kept me a great while in Congress. I 
will honor her ; 1 respect her, and mean to do so as long as I live. 
Applause.) 

Well, gentlemen, suppose that on that occasion I had taken a different 
course from what 1 did take : If I may allude to anything so insignificant 
as myself, suppose that, on the 7th of March, in-trad of making a speech 
that would, a- tar as my power went, reconcile the country, I had joined 
in the general clamor of the party .- Suppose I had said, tl 1 will have 
nothing to do with any accommodation ; we will admit no satisfaction; 
we will let Texas invade New Mexico ; we will leave New Mexico and 
Utah to take care of themselves, and we will plant ourselves on the Wilmot 
Proviso, and let the devil take the hindermost ?" Now, gentlemen, I do not 
mean to say that great consequences would have followed from that ; but 
suppox- 1 had taken such a course ■ How could I he blamed for it ': Was 
1 not a Massachusetts man ? Did 1 not know Massachusetts sentiments 
and prejudices? But what of that: I am an American! (Great ap- 
plause.) I was made a whole man, and I don't mean to make myself 
half a one. (Tremendous outbursts of applause.) 1 felt 1 had a duty 
to perform to my country, to my own reputation; for I flattered myself 
that a service of forty year.- had given me seme character. I thought 



21 

it was my duty, and I did not care what was to be the consequence ; 
I felt it was my duty to come out, to act for my country, and my whole 
country, and to exert any power I had to keep that country together. 
(Great applause.) I cared for nothing, I was afraid of nothing, but meant 
to do my duty. Duty performed makes a man happy ; duty neglected 
makes a man unhappy. I, therefore, gentlemen, in the face of all circum- 
stances, and all dangers, was ready to go forth and do what I thought my 
country, your country, demanded of me. And, gentlemen, allow me to 
say here, to-day, that if the fate of John Rogers had been presented to 
me ; if I had seen the stake ; if I had heard the thorns already crackling ; 
by the blessing of Almighty God, I would have gone on, and discharged 
the duty which I thought my country called upon me to perform. I would 
have become a martyr to save that country. 

And now, gentlemen, farewell. Live and be happy. Live like patriots. 
Live like Americans. Live in the enjoyment of the inestimable blessings 
which your fathers prepared for you ; and if anything that I may do here- 
after should be inconsistent, in the slightest degree, with the opinions and 
principles which I have this day addressed to you, then discard me forever 
from your recollection. 






MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH 



THE DINNER GIVEN HIM AT BUFFALO. 

Mil. M.vyok and Fellow-Citizens of the city of Buffalo, I know that, 
in regard to the present condition of the country, you- think as I think, 
that there is but one all-absorbing question, and that is the preservation 
of this Union. (Cheers.) 

Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : If I have strength, I propose to say 
something to you and your fellow-citizens on that subject to-morrow. 
(Outbursts of applause for some time.) In this social interview and in- 
tercourse, gentlemen, T would not willingly aspire to such a lofty, all- 
important theme. I desire, rather, on this occasion, to address yon as 
citizens of Buffalo, many of whom I have had the pleasure of Beeing in 
former times, many of whom belong to the generation, which has grown up 
since I was first here ; but with all of whom T feel a sympathy for the 
great prosperity which has distinguished their city, and the fair prospect 
which Providence holds out before them. (Applause.) Gentlemen, I 
have had the pleasure of being in the good city of Buffalo three times 
before this visit. I came here in 1825, with my family, accompanied by 
Justice Story and his family. We came mainly to see that all-attractive 
neighbor of yours, the Falls of Niagara. For, gentlemen, you and your 
posterity will never be without a distinguished neighbor in your vicinity. 
"We came to Buffalo. I remember it was said, at that time, there were 
2500 people in it. (Laughter.) Even that startled, because it was fresh 
in my recollection when it was only a waste, and when, as a member of 
Congress, I was called upon to ascertain the value of certain houses 
which were destroyed by the assaults of the British. I came here after- 
wards, gentlemen, in 1833. Your city then had enlarged, manufactories 
had commenced, prosperity had begun. I had the pleasure of address- 
ing you or your fathers, or both, in the Park, and I remember I was told, 
among other things, that I might Bay, with safety, that there were fifteen 
<>r eighteen Bteamboate on Lake Erie. Now, T suppose, there are eighty 
or a hundred. (Laughter and applause.) And I remember another 
thing, gentlemen, and I hope some parties to that transaction are here. 

The mechanics of Buffalo did me the great honor, of tendering to me a 
present of an article of furniture, mad" njpm a great, glorious black-wal- 
nut tree, which grew tothe south of us. They signified their desire to make 
a Utbk out of that walnut tree, and send it to me. The tablfl was made, 
and I accepted it, of course, with great pleasure. When T left here in July, 
the tree was standing ; and in about five weeks there was an elegant 
table, of beautiful workmanship. Bent to my house, which was then in 



23 

Boston. When I went to Marshfield it followed me to the sea-side, and 
there it stands now in the best room in my house, and there it will stand 
as long as I live, and I hope as long as the house shall stand. (Great ap- 
plause.) And I take this occasion to reiterate my thanks for that beau- 
tiful present. (Applause.) I am proud to show it ; I am proud to 
possess it ; I am proud in all the recollections that it suggests. (Ap- 
plause.) I was again in Buffalo some fourteen years ago, on my 
return from the West. That, I think, was in July also. I left 
the sea-coast in May. It was soon after the termination of General 
Jackson's administration, and the commencement of Mr. Van Buren's. I 
recollect I travelled by the way of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Canals, 
and so on to the Ohio ; and I was on the Ohio River, I think, at Wheel- 
ing, on the 25th of May, when we heard of the failure of all the Banks, 
the breaking up of all the credit of the country, and Mr. Van Buren's 
proclamation for an extra session of Congress. That rather hastened 
our progress. I went by the way of Kentucky, Missouri, and Blinois, and 
had the pleasure of seeing my fellow-citizens of Buffalo on my return. 
Now, gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to say, that between that 
time and the present, the population of your city has augmented at least 
one-half. (Applause.) And here is Buffalo, a city of 50,000 inhab- 
itants. 

It is, undoubtedly, one of the wonders of the age, and of this country. 
I enjoy it, gentlemen, with a degree of pleasure inferior only to your own, 
because we are of the same country, because we participate in the same 
destiny, and because we are bound to the same fate for good or 
evil. (Great cheering.) All that is my interest is your interest, 
at least I feel it to be so ; and there is not in this region, or beyond 
the Lakes, a city planned, a tree felled, a field of wheat planted, or any 
other mark of prosperity, in which I, for one, do not take an interest 
But then, gentlemen, one thing strikes me. You are all a young race 
here. (Cheers.) Here is my friend near me. (Pointing to Hon. Albert 
H. Tracy.) We were young men together. It seems to me but a 
short time ago, and here we are. (Applause.) Now, who do I see 
around me here ? Why, the rising generation have taken possession of 
Buffalo. (Applause.J Ye fathers, be frightened ! Ye grandfathers, be 
alarmed ! The youth of Buffalo have taken possession of the city. 
(Applause.) But then, you unmarried women of Buffalo, and you, 
young wives of Buffalo, be neither frightened nor alarmed ; for those 
who have taken possession will be your protectors. (Laughter.) And I 
believe that this is true throughout the whole county of Erie. The 
strong arms of young men till the soil. The vigorous resolution which 
takes hold of any improvement, and sustains every public project, takes 
counsel, no doubt, from age and experience ; but young men in this coun- 
try push forward everything ; complete everything. 

Gentlemen, I need not say that this great neighborhood of yours, and 
this great State of yours, are full of things most striking to the eye and to 
the imagination. The spectacle which your State presents, the waters 
of New York, the natural phenomena of New York, are exciting to a 
very high degree. There is this noble river, the Niagara ; the noble 
Lake from which it issues ; the Falls of Niagara, the wonder of the 
world ! the lakes and waters of a secondary class. Why, how many 



24 

things are there in this great State of New York, thai attract the admira- 
tion and draw the attention of Europe ? I had the pleasure of being a few 
weeks in Europe, and every one asked rae, how long it took to go to Nia- 
gara Falls, and how long to see other curiosities. N< m York, in all its 
relations, in its falls, its rivers, and secondary waters, is attractive to all 
the world. But then there is New York, in the State of New York. 
Gentlemen, the commercial character BO tar pervades the minds of com- 
mercial men all over the world, and absorbs other things, that there are 
many men who are very respectable and intelligent, who do not seem to 
know that there i- any part of the United States hut New York. (Laugh- 
ter.) I was in England, and when I was there it was asked of me, if I 
did not come from New York. (Great laughter.) I told them my wife 
came from Now York. (Continued laughter.) That is something. 
(Great laughter.) Well, gentlemen, I had the honor, one day, to be invi- 
ted to a State-dinner, by the Lord Mayor of London. He was a portly 
and a corpulent gentleman. (Laughter.) He had a big wig on his head, 
all powdered and ribboned down behind, and I had the honor to sit be- 
tween him and the lady Mayoress, and there were 300 guests, with all 
the luxuries and gorgeousness of the Lord Mayor's dinner. By and by, 
in the course of the festivities, his lordship thought proper, soon after the 
cloth was removed, to take notice of his American guest. He seemed 
not to know who I was. He knew I was a Senator; but of the United 
States he seemed to have but little idea of any place but New York. 
(Laughter.) 

He arose : " Gentlemen," said he, "I give you the health of Mr. 
Webster, a member of the upper Senate of New York." (Great out- 
burst of laughter.) Well, gentlemen, it was a jjreat honor to be a mem- 
ber of any Senate of New York, but if there was an upper Senate, to be 
a member of that would be a yreat honor, indeed. (Tremendous laugh- 
ter.) Gentlemen, New York, the Stale of New York, let me indulge 
in a moment's reflection on that great them" ! Ii has so happened in the 
dispensation of things, that New York stretches from boundary to boun- 
dary, through our whole country. Your fellow-citizens, to-day, ar« rat- 
ing clams at Montauk Point, 700 miles from here, and you are regal in- 
on lake trout. You stretch along and divide the whole country. New 
York reaches from the frontier of Canada to the sea. New York di- 
vide- the Southern State- from the Eastern. Here -he i- with two heads ; 
one down at New York, and the other at Buffalo, like a double-headed 
snake, and there she lies. Well, what are you to do with her? Fixed, 
firm and immovable, there she is. (Applause.) It has pleased God, in 
assigning her a position in the configuration of the earth's surface, t' 
cause her to divide the whole South from the East, and she does so. phy- 
Bically and geographically. As Bhe Btretches here, in the whole length 
and breadth, she divides the Southern from the Eastern States. But. 
gentlemen, that is her inferior destiny, her inferior characteristic : for. if 

I do not mistake all auguries, her higher destiny is likewise to unite all 
tie- Stat"- in one political Union. (Vociferous applause and cheers.) 

Gentlemen, nothing so tills my imagination, or comes up more to my 
idea of a great, enterprising, and energetic State, than those things which 
have been accomplished by New York, connected with commerce and in- 
ternal improvements. I honor you for it. When I consider that your 



25 

canal runs from the Lakes to tide-water ; when I consider also that you 
have a railroad from the Lake to tide-water through the centre of the 
State ; and when I examine, as I have examined, that stupendous work, 
hung up, as it were, in the air, on the southern range of mountains from 
New York to Lake Erie ; when I consider the energy, the power, the 
indomitable resolution which effected all this, I bow with reverence to the 
genius and people of New York. Whatever political party may lead, 
or however wrong I may deem any of them to act in other respects, she 
takes care of herself, she is true to herself ; and being true to herself, 
she goes far in establishing the interest of the whole country, in my opin- 
ion. For one, I wish it so to proceed. I know that there are questions 
of a local and State character with which I have nothing to do. I know 
there is a proposition to make this canal of yours greater and broader, 
if I may say so, to give to New York and its commerce more power to 
let out what it has, with greater facility. I know not how that may 
comport with State politics or State arrangements, but I shall be happy 
to see the day, when there shall be no obstruction, or hindrance, in any 
article of trade, or commerce, going out right, straight and strong, with 
breadth enough, and margin enough, and room enough to carry all to its 
market. May I say, gentlemen, that a broad, deep, and ample canal 
realizes, and more than realizes, what the poet has said of the River 
Thames : 

" 0, could I flow like thee, and make thy stream 
My great example, as it is my theme ! 
Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull, 
Strong without rage, without o'erflowing, full." 

But, gentlemen, there are other things about this State of yours. 
You are here at the foot of Lake Erie. You look out on the 
far expanse of the West. Wbo have come here ? Of whom are 
you composed? You are already a people of fiffy thousand, a larger 
population than that of any New England city, except Boston ; and yet 
you are but of yesterday. What is your population ? A great many of 
them are my countrymen, and I see them with pleasure ; but these are 
not all, there are also Irish and Germans. I suppose, on the whole, and • 
in the main, they are safe citizens ; at any rate, they appear well disposed, 
and they constitute a large portion of your population. That leads us to 
consider generally what is the particular position of our country, and of 
your city, as one of the great outlets to the West, in regard to this foreign 
immigration. The emigration to this country is enormous, it comes from 
Germany, Switzerland, and many other parts of Europe, especially Ire- 
land. I remember it used to be a simile, when anything of a sudden or 
energetic nature took place, to say that it " broke out like an Irish rebel- 
lion, forty thousand strong, when nobody expected it." Forty thousand 
strong does not begin to compare with the emigration to the United 
States. Emigration comes here with a perfect rush from every part of 
Ireland ; from Limerick and the Shannon, from Dublin and from Cork ; 
emigrants come also from the Northern ports, from Londonderry and 
Belfast, and here they are. Into this country they come, and will con- 
tinue to come ; it is in the order of things, and there is no possibility of 
preventing it. Gentlemen, it is about three centuries and a half since 



26 

Colnmbaa discovered America, and he came here by authority of the 
Spanish Government He gathered up some gold, and went back with 
a great name. It is a much shorter time since the Irish discovered 
America, and they come in much greater numbers ; but they do not come 
here with the idea of carrying back money, or fame, or a name, bat mean 
to live here forever. They come to remain among us, and to be of us, 
and to take their chances among us. Let them come. 

There are also Germans. Foot city, I am told, has a very large num- 
ber of thrifty, industrious German people. Let them also come. If His 
Majesty of Austria, and the Austrian Government, will allow them to 
come, let them come. (Great applause.) All we desire, whosoever 
come, is, that they will Americanize themselves ; that, forgetting the 
things that are behind, they will look forward ; and if they look as far as 
Iowa and Minnesota, they will not look a rod too far. I know that 
many from Europe come here, who have been brought up to different 
pursuits, to different forms of application, and even to different systems 
of agriculture ; but, as a general thing, I believe it is true, that when they 
are removed from the temptations of the cities of the Atlantic coast, and 
when they get into regions, where trees are to be felled, and land cleared, 
they prove themselves worthy and respectable citizens ; and, perhaps, 
gentlemen, you will excuse me if, without too long a speech, I say a little 
relative to our American system on this subject of foreign immigration. In 
the Declaration of Independence, declared, as you all know, on the 4th 
of July, 177G, a solemn and formal complaint is made against the British 
King, that he sought to prevent emigration from Europe to the colonies, 
by refusing his assent to reasonable laws of naturalization, by reason of 
which, it was stated, the country did not fill up, and the public lands were 
not purchased. It is worthy the attention of any gentleman, who wishes 
to acquaint himself with the early history of the country in this respect, 
to refer back to the naturalization laws passed in the time of Washing- 
ton. Fv.-ry one mag see what was the prevailing idea at that period. The 
idea of encouraging emigration from Europe was nnivi real, and it was de- 
Bired that those, who wished to become naturalized, should become ac- 
quainted with our system of government before they voted ; that they 
should have an interest in the country; that they might not be led away 
by ewvy designing demagogue. At that day, nobody foresaw such de- 
velopments, and such enlargement in the commerce of the country, a- we 
now see ; and, therefore, in the early periods of Washington's administra- 
tion, they were looking to see how they should pay the debt of tin Re- 
volution. Whatever we may think of it now, their great resource to pay 
their debts was, as they thought, the public domain. They had obtained, 
before the Constitution was formed, a grant of the Northwest Terri- 
tory, which was known to be capable of furnishing great products 
by agricultural labor. The Congress of that day looked to this. 
They had no idea how sudden would be the great increase of our com- 
merce, or how plentiful would be the revenue from that source: and, 
therefore, their main resource was to see how far they could i 
foreign emigration, (which, it was expect* d, would bring capital into the 
country,) with an idea of such a conformity with our American system, 
and to American institutions, as would render emigration safe, and not 
dangerous to the common weal. 



27 

Gentlemen, we are not arbiters of our own fate. Human foresight 
falters and fails. Who could foresee or conjecture at that day, what 
our eyes now see and behold ? We see this for good or for evil. Nor 
could we stay this immigration if we would. We see there is a rush of 
people from Europe to America, that exceeds, in a single month, and at 
the single port of New York, the population of many single cities on the 
Atlantic coast. This is the case, and it is to be met and to be considered. 
It would be foolish to attempt to obstruct it, if obstruction were safe. 
The thing cannot be done. You may remember, gentlemen, (though I am 
too modest to suppose that you remember much about it,) that, in my 
correspondence with Lord Ashburton, who came out here to negotiate 
the Treaty of '42, we examined the subject of the impressment of Ame- 
rican citizens. Up to that day, England had insisted on the right to visit 
every American ship in the time of war, and if she found any English- 
men, Irishmen, or Welshmen on board of her, to press them into her 
service, on the ground that they could not transfer their allegiance. I 
need not say, gentlemen, that this subject had been a matter of negotiation. 
It was, at one time, suggested by the British minister, that the right should 
be exercised only in certain latitudes. At another time it was suggested, that 
this right should not be extended to the deprivation of any American 
vessel of her whole crew, but that enough should be left to navi- 
gate her. I am afraid, or ashamed, gentlemen, indeed I don't know 
that I ought to say it, but with your permission I will say it, that 
on that occasion it was decided that every man on board of an American 
vessel, either mercantile or naval, was protected by the flag of America. 
(Tremendous applause.) No matter if his speech did betray him ; no 
matter what brognp was on his tongue ; if the stars and stripes were over 
him, he was for that purpose, while on board an American vessel, an Ame- 
rican citizen. (Cheers.) Well, gentlemen, as we are indulging in a 
sort of saturnalia, and aa -rro are talking; of ourselves a little, (cries of 
" Who ?" " Go on,") let me say, that from that day to this, we nave heaid 
of no pretensions on the part of the British Government, that it could 
send an officer on board of any American ship, and take from her any 
human being whatever, and never shall. (Great applause.) 

Lord Ashburton, with whom I negotiated and corresponded on that 
occasion, was a judicious and wise man. He had been a good deal in this 
country. He was married in this country. He knew something of this 
country ; and he saw various relations between this country and England 
in a far more philanthropical point of view than most others, and he 
stated in a letter, which is on record somewhere : " I must admit that 
when a British subject, Irish, English, or Welsh, becomes an American, 
and claims no longer the protection of his own country, his own country 
has no right to call him a subject, and to put him in a position to make 
war on his adopted country ; and it appears to me," he added, " that we 
may count it among the dispensations of Providence, that these new fa- 
cilities of transporting men from country to country, by the power of 
steam, and quickly, are designed by a high wisdom." He said, " We 
have more people than land, and you have more land than people. Take 
as many from us as you please, or as please to come. That seems to be the 
order of things ; and it is not to be stopped.'' I told him that was my opi- 
nion too. Gentlemen, this emigration is not to be stopped ; we must keep 



28 

things as they are ; we must impress all who come here with the necessity 
of becoming Americans. We must teach them ; we must endeavor to in- 
still American Bentiments into all their hosoms. (Prolonged Applause.) 
Gentlemen, if it were not so late in the evening, I would say a few 
more words i cries of" Go on, Go on ") about the public lands of 
this country, and the beet disposition to be made of them. What shall 
we do with them ? They amount to a vast extent of territory, rich 
in its natural Fertility; but can any one tell me what is the value of 
land unconnected with cultivation and Bocial life? A thousand acres 
would not, in such a case, be of the value of a dollar. What is land 
worth in the extreme interior? Land is a theatre for the application 
and exhibition of human labor ; and when human labor goes upon it. and 
is exerted, then it creates its value, and without it, it is not worth 
a rush, from " Dan to Beersheba." I do not wish to say, on every acre 
of land there must be a settlement; but there must be human labor some- 
where near it ; there must be something besides the mathematical divi- 
sion apportioning it into sections, half sections, and quarter sections, be- 
fore land is of any value whatever. 

But, gentlemen, we have had a series of wonderful events in our com- 
mercial relations. The commerce of the country is filling the coffers of 
the country. It has supplied, and now supplies, every want of the govern- 
ment. What, then, shall we do with the public lands ? During the last 
Congress, acts were passed, distributing large quantities of them, varying 
from 160 acres, or more, down to 40 acres, to those who had rendered 
military service to the country. This was all very well; nobody goes 
further than I do, in desiring to make happy those who have borne arms 
in their country's cause, as well as their widows and orphans ; bnt, this 
does not appear tn me to answer the exigencies of the case. What is to be 
done ? What is to become of those who come to this country, and have 
nothing to buy land with ? That's th« qnaatum, gentlemen , the- last 
m««uic i<iu)/o 5 ea by me while in Congress, was the short and simple 
proposition, that every man of twenty -one years of age, who would go on 
any uncultivated land belonging to the United States, and take up 160 
acres and cultivate it for five years, should thereby make it his own, and 
there to be an end of the public right ; and if in case of his death, his 
widow and children did the same, they should have it. One of the great 
evils of this military bounty business is, that when warrants are issued, 
manage it as you will, they fall into the hands of speculators, and do not 
accrue to those whom it was designed to benefit. They sell for a 
trifle, and they fall into the hands of speculators, as 1 have already 
stated. Let in • tdl you an anecdote on this subject : I brought forward 
this matter in the Senate of the United States, and soon afterwards I 
received a Letter from Europe, Btating thai it was wrong and unjust, be- 
lt wmiid Interfere with the rights of those who had purchased war- 
wants, to settle on the public lands, as a matter of speculation. (Laugh- 
ter.) I wn.te back that it was just the thing I wished. I was glad it 
was bo, and I bad desired it should be so. My proposition was, that these 
lands should not be alienated ; that they should be lice of claims for 

lebt; that they should not be transferable, and if a man left hi- land 
before five years, he should lose it. 

.My proposition was, that the' lands granted under it should not be 



29 

alienable ; should not be subject to alienation by law ; that a man enter- 
ing upon, should stay upon, should cultivate it for five years ; or, if he 
should not live, then his wife or children should remain upon it, for the 
specified term of five years, when it should be theirs forever. My object 
was simply, as far as the object could be accomplished, to benefit those of 
the Northern States who were landless, and the thousands of the South- 
ern States, who were willing to toil if they had anything of their own to 
toil upon. It was to benefit the emigrant, by giving him a home ; to let 
him feel that he had a homestead ; that he trod upon his own soil ; that 
he was a man, a freeholder. On his own good behavior he must rely 
to make up all else to which he would aspire. I might have been wrong 
in my opinions, but they are my opinions still ; and if ever an opportu- 
nity is given me, I shall endeavor to carry them out. 

Well, gentlemen, I revert once more to your great State. I see all her 
works, all her gigantic improvements, the respectability of her Govern- 
ment. I hear of her greatness over the whole world. Your merchants 
have a character everywhere, which realizes the idea of my youth of the 
character of a British merchant, which I will illustrate by an anecdote. 
A friend of mine, in the days of the French Eepublic, had so much con- 
fidence in the men who stood at the head of affairs, that he invested 
largely in French Assignats. But after a while he found them to be 
worthless. His creditors would not touch them, he could get nothing for 
them, and there they were, dead upon his hands. One day, after using 
some very extravagant language, he concluded by saying, " that if he 
were travelling in the deserts of Arabia, and his camel should kick up a 
British bill of exchange out of the sands, it would be worth ten per cent, 
premium, while these Government Assignats were not worth a farthing." 
So your commercial character stands. Your vessels traverse every sea, 
and fill all the rivers. You call commerce to you, and she comes. You 
call her from the vasty deep, and she responds to your call. Your 
mercantile credit is full, firm, and complete everywhere. 

But, gentlemen, I will conclude by offering a sentiment, for I am sure 
you are anxious to hear from others, from whom I have too long de- 
tained you. Permit me to give 

The State of New York: Not the enyy, but the admiration of her sister 
States. 

It is needless to say that Mr. Webster was greeted throughout with 
repeated applause, and resumed his seat amidst long-continued and en- 
thusiastic cheers. 



30 



SPEECH AT SYRACUSE. 

Fellow-citizens of Syracuse, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you 
cordially for the pains you have taken to meet together this afternoon, 
forming bo hro:i-l an assemblage, to welcome me to your important and 
growing city of Syracuse. 

I have known this place, by occasional visits, for many years ; some of 
those visits were made before you, whose happy faces I see before me, were 
born, or when you were in infancy. I have watched its progress with in- 
terest, connected as it has been with the interest of the great saline pro- 
ducl of the State, and as the capital of the noble County of Onondaga, 
which I have always regarded with admiration. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, The President and his friends were invited, 
three weeks ago, to attend the celebration of the completion of that great 
line of communication, the New York and Erie Railroad. We left 
Washington with no other purpose, certainly none on my part, than to 
perform" hat agreeable duty. I had not the slightest expectation of being 
here, nor had I the slightest idea, or wish, of being called upon to 
address you, or any other body of citizens of the United States, upon the 
political topics of the day. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, my time for such public discourses in the open 
air may be considered as pretty much over. There is a time for all 
things, and there has been a time when it was not unpleasant to me 
to meet masses of ladies and gentlemen in the open air, and to speak upon 
topics which were not disagreeable to them, and certainly not to me. But 
there must come a time, as we advance in life and age, when what we 
do for the public must be more in the closet, and less in the field. 

Nevertheless, Ladies and Gentlemen, a large number of the people of 
Syracuse having signified to me, by letter, that it was their desire that I 
should meet them to-day, and address them on public rabjects, as far as 
may be in my power, I gladly conform to their request 

On the great question of the day, my fellow-citizens, I have no secrets. 
I have nothing to conceal and nothing to boast of. I trust that all of you 
know pretty well who I am, and what I am, and what my principles of 
political conduct have been for the last thirty years. They arc not likely 
to 1).- changed ; and it is not likely that any earthly inducement will pre- 
vail upon me to depart from those settled notions and opinions which I 
imbibed in early lite, which I have followed in the councils of this coun- 
try, for good or" for evil, for thirty years, and the correctness of which, in 
the general, my judgment approves more and more every day of my life. 

l i lies atid Gentlemen, I know very well that on the agitating q 
tionsofthe hour I have not the happiness to concur with all tin- people 
of Syracuse, or the county of Onondaga, or other parts oi the State 

of New fork. I know there are varieties of sentiments, and I know the 

sources of that disagreement Some of them are very justifiable, and 

some of them. I am^sorry to believe, are not capable of much deience. 



31 

But I know there are differences of feeling brought about by differences 
of association, by different reading, and by different degrees of knowledge 
and information respecting public affairs. 

But, since I am requested to address you, you must take from me the 
honest sentiments of my own heart, the convictions of my own conscience. 
I lay no claim to your approval of my views, and I ask no favorable 
reception of them, " farther than you see the suggestions I make to you, 
are worthy of your regard." You are here in the centre, the very centre 
of the greatest State in the Union, the place where frequently assemble 
representatives of all parties and all views, and you have here all sorts of 
sentiments advanced, all sorts of doctrines espoused, and you have a very 
fair opportunity of forming a judgment, a fair, conscientious judgment, of 
all great questions before the public. 

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a matter of notoriety all the world 
over, and especially in Syracuse, that the origin of the important ques- 
tions, that for two years have agitated the country, is the condition of the 
Southern States in respect to the institution of slavery in those States, 
and the rights of the parties connected with that institution in the Govern- 
ment under which we live. 

You cannot state, more strongly than I feel to be true, that this original, 
ancient, unhappy institution of the slavery of the African races in the 
Southern States, is forever and ever to be deplored. It has been, in the 
course of our history, as much deplored by the Southern States as by our- 
selves, and, sixty years ago, was more deplored by them than by us. 

When the Constitution of the United States was adopted, the Northern 
people did not feel the evils of slavery, because it was not among them to 
any great or growing extent. The Southern people did feel the evils, be- 
cause it was among them ; and they all thought, and all said, it was an evil 
entailed upon them by the British Government, for which they were full 
of lamentation and regret, and if they knew how to get rid of it, they 
would embrace any reasonable measure to accomplish that end. 

Such were the feelings and such the opinions of the principal men of 
the South ; of such men as Chancellor Wythe, Jefferson, Mason, and 
other leading men of the South, who were concerned in the forma- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States. And if you will look into 
the history of those times, you will find what I state to be true, that 
the Southern people were more filled with regret at the existence of 
slavery than the Northern people. 

The thirteen colonies were originally of English origin, coming here at 
different times, settling along the coast under various circumstances, all 
united by a common oi'igin, found themselves oppressed by the mother 
country, and in '76 they declared their independence. That was an act 
of Union; it was a united act of the thirteen colonies ; it was that united 
act that made us free from the dominion of England; and, united under 
that act, the colonies fought the war of the Revolution, and afterwards es- 
tablished a common Government. There was at that time no more idea 
of prohibiting slavery in the Southern States, than there was of introdu- 
cing it into the Northern States. These domestic State institutions, and 
State establishments, were considered as the proper subjects for the legis- 
lation of States themselves. 

For purposes of general defence and general welfare, and for purposes 
of commercial equality, and similar objects, the States afterwards agreed 



32 

to come under one government ; and as to all the rest, it was expressly 
agreed that every Suite should take care of its own rights, and regulate 
itself in relation thereto al its own discretion. Upon these principles 
we came together under the Constitution which was then adopted; and 
Washington, unanimously chosen by all the people, was our first President. 

That was before your day, fellow-citizens, and before mine, but it is a 
matter of history ; and from it you know, that this question of the exis - 
of slavery in the Southern State.- never became an agitating subject 
for more than fifty years afterwards. For more than fifty years the 
Northern States never supposed that they had anything to do with it ; 
but, in process of time, and in the progress of things, public sentiment has 
Changed at the North. There is now a strong and animated, sometimes 
an enthusiastic, and sometimes a religious feeling, against the existence 
of Blavery in the South. But persons entertaining such feelings and sen- 
timents, as J think, disregard the line of their own duties, and adventure 
upon fields which are utterly forbidden. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, there are in this country Abolition Societies 
and Abolition Presses ; and it is no new thing for me to say, for I said it 
twenty years ago, and have held the opinion ever since, that, in my judg- 
ment, all these things have prejudiced the condition of the slave. Twenty 
years ago, a convention of the whole people of Virginia was held, to delib- 
erate on changing her Constitution, and there was a free discussion of 
the policy of liberating the slaves, and of gradual emancipation. The 
question was freely and openly discussed, and there was no fear or re- 
serve in the debate. In that respect, the advice of Jefferson, and Madison, 
and Marshall, with all of whom I have conversed upon this subject, and 
all of whom desired to see a way in which the gradual emancipation of the 
slave population of the South might be accomplished, was communicated 
and made known. Everybody knew what was going on, and it was 
perfectly safe to come out and maintain, as a general proposition, that it 
would be for the benefit of the South to provide for the gradual emanci- 
pation and colonization of the slaves. 

1 1 was about that time that Abolition Societies were established in New 
England, and, in my opinion, they have done nothing but mischief; they 
have riveted the chains of every slave in the Southern States stronger 
and stronger ; they have made their masters jealous and fearful, and 
postponed far and far the period of their redemption. This is my judg- 
ment ; it may not be yours. 

Well, what has been the consequence? We have had occasions in 
which, in our political system, questions have arisen on the extension of 
Blave territory. It arose in the case of Texas, and nobody found me 
then voting for the addition of one foot of slave territory to the United 
States. Ah! even before many persons who now shout the loudest tor 
liberty, knew what liberty was, I declared, in the city of New York in 
1837, (and it has been on record ever since, and you can all see it.) my 
fixed purpose, that, under no circumstances, and under the pressure ot 
no exigency, would I agree to take Texas into this country a- a -lave 
State, or a slave territory. From that position I have not departed ; but 
our good representatives in the Senate and in the Bouse of Representa- 
tives from the State of New York, from the Empire State, voted for the 
admission of Texas, while I resisted it in vain. 



33 

I state it not as a reproach, but as a fact, that some of the gentlemen 
from New York, then distinguished in the houses of Congress, in spite of 
all I could say or do, voted to bring Texas, as she was, into the Union, as 
a slave State, and with the solemn stipulation of the privilege of making 
out of herself four more slave States. 

What are they, and where are they now ? They are Free toilers of 
the first water, (applause,) and they loudly denounce Mr. Webster. I 
believe he has been denounced here. Is not this Syracuse ? (Great ap- 
plause and laughter.) I believe they hold conventions here, (laughter ;) 
they denounce Webster as the fit associate of Benedict Arnold; and Prof. 
Stuart, Dr. Spencer and Dr. Lord, and Dr. Dewey, and others of that 
stamp, as being no better. (Laughter.) I would be glad to strike out 
Benedict Arnold ; as for the rest, I am proud of their company. 

This is the truth ; and before the throne of God, and before the tribu- 
nal of an intelligent people, there is nothing valuable but truth, truth, 
truth. It is not glossary or commentary, that is valuable ; it is not that 
thing called eloquence, never of the greatest value, and often mischiev- 
ous ; but it is that which can stand the test of time and eternity alone, 
truth. 

Now it is truth, that from my earliest introduction into public life, up 
to the present time, I never voted, I always refused to vote, for the ac- 
quisition of one inch of slave territory to the United States. (Great ap- 
plause.) But that goes for nothing, for nothing. 

It is equally true that the Constitution of the United States, in so 
many words, declares that persons bound to service in one State, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall not be discharged there- 
from, but shall be delivered up to the person to whom such service is due. 
Now, I have sworn, again aim* again, to support that Constitution, and 
so has every person, who has held office under the State Government, as 
solemnly sworn before God to support that Government ; that is, so far 
as depends upon him, to take care that no fugitive from labor, coming 
into a free State, be discharged from that labor, but shall be restored. 

Well, what are we to do, then, as conscientious persons ? How are 
we to treat this matter? Are we at liberty to say that all this is imagi- 
nation, all nonsense, and we will do as we please ? Shall we say here is 
no obligation binding on our conscience ? You might as well say there 
are no obligations in domestic relations. Our political duties are equally 
matters of conscience, as are the duties arising out of our domestic ties 
and most endearing social relations. That is my opinion. 

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would wish that all the human race, of 
every color, were as happy as we are, and as capable of self-govern- 
ment. So far as men are qualified for self-government; so far as 
they are happier by being able to take care of themselves, so much 
the better. But we are to consider what we do, and we are not to rush or 
under the influence of a false philanthropy and mistaken humanity. If you 
satisfy me that we can do anything for the benefit of the southern slave, 
constitutionally, I will do it. I have said, and I say again, I would vote in 
Congress, were I in that body, to restore to Virginia all the public lands 
the General Government has had from her, and all the proceeds of the 
same up to this time, if by that means it would enable her to provide some 
way for the emancipation of her black population. Can I do more ? Can 

3 



34 

you do more? And if we cannot do that, can we do more than to leave 
it to in all-wise Providence to bring about the result? 
At the commencement of 1850, a year and a half ago, T was a mem- 
1 had been there a greal while, perhaps most of you 
think quite too long, (laughter,) but there I was. "We had acquired these 
new territories from Mexico, all against my wishes. I voted against each 
and all of them. California had no attractions for me. I did not 
wish to bring into this government the agitating question about the fur- 
ther extension of slave territory. Your Senators from New York did 
wish it. and voted for it, against many votes of Southern gentlemen, who 
felt as 1 did, and who wished to avoid the controversy. Such were Ber- 
rien and Badger, Southern men. Their constituents wished them to vote 
for bringing in the new acquisitions, but they saw the evil of it, and 
they said. No I and voted against it. But the Northern States voted for 
it, very many of them, New York and Rhode Island, and even onedialf 
of Massachusetts. 

They said we will try an experiment. Good Heavens ! try an experi- 
ment to see whether it will dismember the Union ! Make an acquisition 
which may destroy it! Try an experiment upon the nation with as 
much unconcern as we try an experiment in chemistry ! * 

Well, this territory came in. It turned out as I foresaw. I will not 
say I foresaw the whole ; I foresaw a part. 

California was settled by a rush of people from the Northern and 
Middle Stat'^. and they made that government free at once. So far so 
good. She came in as a State, with the star of freedom in her forehead, 
and I rejoice at it. But no doubt it was a serious disappointment to the 
Southern people, that some parts of California were not set apart for 
slave population and slave culture. 

What next t There were those two territories of New Mexico and 
Utah, anil a great conflict arose between the North and the South, whether 
the Wilmot Proviso should be applied to New Mexico. 

I examined that subject : I knew it was distasteful and repugnant to 
the South ; and I asked myself whether any such provision was necessa- 
ry ; whether in the course of human events, whether in the geographical 
conformation of the country, and the habits of the people, there was 
the least ground to suppose that New Mexico would ever be a slave 
country. I thought there was not. 

I thought that by the law of nature, superior to all the Wilmot Pro- 
visos the world ever saw, the mountains of New Mexico must sus- 
tain a free population. Therefore I would not consent merely as a taunt- 
ing reproach, to apply the Wilmot Proviso to the mountains of New 
.Mexico; any more than I would apply it to the Canada-;. 

Well, that is the burden of my offence. But throughout New York 
and New England, this refusal to apply the Wilmol Proviso, is charged 
inst me as a falsification of all the principles of liberty 1 have sup- 
ported all my life. 

I made that declaration on the 7th of March, 1850. You know the 
sound of reproach that rang through the whole country ; you know how 
Webster, who was supposed to be the friend of liberty and of the Con- 
stitution, was reviled, everywhere, for his departure from that course. 
In forty days from the time I made that Bpeech, and expressed my 



35 

opinion that it was not necessary to have a controversy with the South 
upon that subject, because the law of nature had excluded slavery from 
New Mexico, the people of New Mexico assembled and formed a consti- 
tution which excluded it altogether. 

Now, what I have to complain of, I do not mean to complain of any- 
thing ; but the truth is, that of all the presses in Western New York and 
New England, that reviled me so much and so violently for affirming 
there was no necessity for applying the "Wilmot Proviso to New Mexico, 
there is not one of them that has taken back the charge, when they saw 
the truth of my assertion verified by facts. Did they say Webster was 
right, and we wrong ? No ; not one of them. 

Now, my fellow-citizens, at the commencement of the year 1850 there 
was a general agreement, not universal, a general consent, of the majority 
of Congress to bring in California under her Constitution of freedom. 
But what was to be done with those two territories ? 

And there was still a more vital question. You know Texas accom- 
plished her independence by her revolution against Mexico ; and after- 
wards by her Constitution, as she said, Texas embraced all that part of 
the country commonly called New Mexico, lying east of the Rio Grande. 
That was disputed. I do not say Texas was right ; but that was her claim. 
Then we had admitted Texas in '45, without any statement of her 
boundaries. When she came into the Union, under the law of '45, 
and when we acquired New Mexico, a question immediately arose as to 
whom New Mexico, east of the Rio Grande, belonged ; whether to the 
United States or to Texas. This was very much a matter of dispute. 
Now, who should settle this question ? Texas was an extreme Southern 
State, full of ardent young men, ready for any enterprise for what they 
considered the support of their rights ; who were going to take posses- 
sion by force of arms, of what they thought were Texas lands. At that 
time there were six or seven States of the South that had passed resolu- 
tions of separation, or leading to separation, or calling conventions to con- 
sider the question of separation, and some of whom seemed ready to take 
up the cause of Texas, and assist in enforcing her rights. Such was the 
state of things. 

I confess, that for one, I thought it a subject of the greatest importance, 
to settle this question of the Texas boundary by a just compromise ; by 
any fair and equal arrangement, so that the peace of the country might 
be preserved. Without going more at length into the matter now, 
I wish to say, that in my opinion, there was great danger of civil war. 
From the condition of Texas herself, and considering the thousands upon 
thousands of persons in the Southern States, who were only waiting an 
opportunity to make an outbreak, and were ready to join the standard of 
Texas, which would give them the chance for military display ; I say 
there was the greatest danger of civil war. 

I know very well, had Texas taken the first step, the Government of 
the United States would easily have subdued her. As a military 
matter, it was easy to foresee that result. But then as a political 
matter, as a matter connected Avith the view which the statesman should 
take of it, who can see the result of the shedding of blood by the Govern- 
ment ? 

I thought, therefore, and think stil ! that every reasonable sacrifice 



36 

that could be made, to settle the boundary of Texas, and to take away the 
topic of disunion from among us, should be made. 

Bat there remained other mutters. I thought there ought to be a 

proper government for Utah and New Mexico. We have in all such 

. heretofore, established a territorial government. We did establish 

it, and thai was one of the measures of that Congress, and in my opinion 

a \erv proper one. 

And this leads us to the consideration of the question of the enact- 
ment of what is called the Fugitive Slave Law. I have said that you 
and I are not responsible for the existence of Blavery in the Smith. 
no more than in the Island of Cuba, and we have no more to do with the 
one than the other. It is as far removed from all your political duties, 
and my political duties, as the slaves in the West India Islands. Well, 
here they are, and here is an original compact of the States, that persons, 
bound to service or labor in one State, escaping into another, shall not 
be discharged, but be returned. 

Now, in General Washington's time, in 1793, Congress passed an act 
for carrying this part of the Constitution into effect. It was thought 
wise at the time to leave the execution of that law pretty much in the 
hands of State tribunals ; State magistrates, and officers and judges 
were authorized to execute that law. It was so administered for fifty 
years, and nobody complained of it. Things went on until this new ex- 
citement of the slavery question, this abolition question, was brought up, 
and then some of the States, Massachusetts, and others, enacted laws 
making it penal to execute this law of Congress. 

Then the statute became a dead letter in this part of it; when, of 
course, it became a matter of necessity to provide for the execution of 
this Constitutional enactment by the authority of the Government of the 
United States, or give it up altogether. Well, I made no question my- 
self, that if we meant to fulfil the contract of the Constitution, if we meant 
to be honest, it was our duty to make a provision, which, by the authority 
of the Government itself, should carry into execution the provisions of 
that Constitution. And that is the origin of the present Fugitive Slave 
Law. 

I do not say the law is perfect. I proposed some amendments 
to it. but was called from the Senate before it was adjusted. 

The law passed, and 1 have not yet heard the man whose opinion is 
worth a sixpence, who has said that that law is not perfectly constitu- 
tional. The Judgea of the Supreme Court of the United States, of New 
York, of Massachusetts, all say the law is a constitutional one, passed in 
perfi cl conformity to the requirements of the Constitution. What then? 
I- it not to be obeyed? Are not those who are sworn to obey the Con- 
stitution, to enforce that law ? Is it not a matter of conscience, of con- 
scie!i 

Bui at do we hear? We hear of persons assembling in Massachu- 

and New York, who set up themselves over the Constitution, above 
the law, and above the decisions of the highest tribunals, and who say 
this law slriM not be carried into effect. You have heard it here, have 
vol not? Has it not been so said in the county oi Onondaga? (Cries of 
y. -. v- ) And have they not pledged their lives, their Fortunes, and 
their Bacred bono;- to defeat its execution? Pledged their lives, their 



37 

fortunes, and sacred honor ! for what ? For the violation of the law, for 
the committal of treason to the country ; for it is treason, and nothing 
else. (Great applause.) 

I am a lawyer, and I value my reputation as a lawyer, and I tell you, 
if men get together and declare a law of Congress shall not be executed 
in any case, and assemble in numbers and force to prevent the execution 
of such law, they are traitors, and are guilty of treason, and bring upon 
themselves the penalties of that crime. 

No ! no ! It is time to put an end to this imposition upon good citi- 
zens, good men and good women. It is treason, treason, treason, and 
nothing else, (cheers,) and if they do not incur the penalties of treason, it 
is owing to the clemency of the law's administration, and to no merit of 
their own. 

Who and what are these men ? I am assured some of them are cler- 
gymen, and some, I am sorry to say it, are lawyers, and who the rest are, 
I know not. 

They say the law will not be executed. Let them take care, for those 
are pretty bold assertions. The law must be executed, not only in carry- 
ing back the slave, but against those guilty of treasonable practices in 
resisting its execution. 

Depend upon it, the law will be executed in its spirit, and to its letter. 
(Great applause.) It will be executed in all the great cities ; here in 
Syracuse ; in the midst of the next Anti-slavery Convention, if the oc- 
casion shall arise ; then we shall see what becomes of their lives and 
their sacred hoflfor. (Tremendous cheering.) 

Do not debauch your own understandings, your own judgments ; do 
not render ridiculous your own sympathy, humanity and philanthropy, 
by any such ideas. 

The course of your duty towards all that are in bondage within your 
power and influence, is plain. Happily the teaching of the sacred book, 
which is our guide, instructs us in that matter. What we can do, we 
will do, to let the oppressed £0 free, to succor the distressed, and to visit 
the prisoner in affliction. We must do our duty, and Ave must content 
ourselves with acting conscientiously in that sphere of life in which we 
are placed ; politicians in their sphere, individuals in their sphere, and 
all of us under the deep, earnest sense of obligation that our Creator has 
impressed upon us. 

It is not unfrequently said by a class of men to whom I have referred, 
that the Constitution is born of hell ; that it was the work of the devil ; 
and that Washington was a miserable blood-hound, set upon the track 
of the African slave. How far these words differ from words that have 
saluted your ears within yonder hall, you will judge. 

Men who utter such sentiments are ready at any moment to destroy 
the charter of all your liberties, of all your happiness, and of all your 
hope. They are either insane, or fatally bent on mischief. 

The question is, therefore, whether we will sustain the government 
under which we live ; whether we will do justice to the Southern States, 
that they may have no excuse for going out of the Union. If there 
are any that will not consent that the South shall have a fair hearing, a 
fair trial, a fair decision upon what they think the Constitution secured 
to them, I am not of that number. 



3S 



Everybody knows that I am a Northern man, born in the extreme 
North, bred and brought ap in notions altogether irreconcilable to human 
Blaverj, and why should I have any sentiments in common with the 
South on that Bubjed ? 

lbit when it is put to me as a public man, whether the people of the 
South, under the stipulations of this Constitution, have not the right of a 
rair law from Congress for returning to them the fugitive slave, I say 
they have: and I could not say otherwise. 

Ladies and gentlemen, you will pardon me for the gravity of these 
remarks. 1 had rather talk with you in private or public on other sub- 
jects; upon the prosperity and happiness we all enjoy; upon the growth 
of this beautiful part of New York ; and in short upon anything, 
rather than upon the fugitive slave law, or Texas or New Mexico ; but 
I came here at the solicitation of the people of your city, to speak upon 
public topic-;. You will accept my thanks for the kind manner in which 
you have been pleased to receive me, and I wish you and your families 
all, life, happiness and prosperity. 



Mil. WEBSTER'S SrEECIi 



THE DINNER GIVEN HIM AT SYRACUSE. 

B. Davis Noxon, Esq., gave the following toast : 

" The Constitution and its greatest Expounder; the Union and its ablest De- 
fender.'' 

Mr. Webster arose, amid great applause, to reply. 

I am happy to meet you, and to enjoy this quiet, social and agreeable 
dinmr with you. Mr. Noxon has done me too much honor, to allude to 
me in the terms which he has chosen, in connecting my services with the 
Constitution of the country, and the Union. 

It has 30 happened, that all the public services which I have rendered 
in the world, in my day and L r ' ncration, have been connected with the 
General Government. I think I ought to make an exception. I was ten 
day- a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, (laughter,) and I turned 
my thoughts to the Bearch of some good object in which I could be useful 
in that position : and. after much reflection, I introduced a bill which, 
with the general consent of both houses of the Massachusetts Legislature, 
d into a law. and i- now a law of the Stat'-, which enacts that no 
man in the State -hall catch trout in any other manner than in the old 
way with an ordinary hook and line. (Great laughter.) With that < x- 
Ception, I never was connected/for an hour, with any State Government, 
in my life. I never held office, high or low, under any State Govern- 
ment. Perhaps that was my misfortune. 



39 

At the age of thirty, I was in New Hampshire, practising law, and had 
some clients. John Taylor Gilman, who, for fourteen years, was Gov- 
erner of the State, thought that, a young man as I was, I might be fit to 
be an Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire, and he nomi- 
nated me to the Council ; and the Council taking it into their deep con- 
sideration, and not happening to be of the same politics as the Governor 
and myself, voted, three out of five, that I was not competent, and very 
likely they were right. (Laughter.) So, you see, gentlemen, I never 
gained promotion in any State Government. 

Gentlemen, to be serious, my life has been a life of severe labor in my 
profession, and all the portion I could spare of that labor, from the sup- 
port of my family and myself, has been devoted to the consideration of 
subjects connected with the general history of the country; the_ Constitu- 
tion of the country ; the confederation out of which the Constitution arose ; 
the history of all the Congresses which have assembled before and 
since the formation of that Constitution ; and, in short, if I have learned 
anything, or know anything, (and I admit that it is very little,) what I do 
know, and what I do understand, as far as I understand anything, is the 
Constitution of the United States, the history of its formation, and the his- 
tory of its administration under General Washington, and from that time 
down to this. 

I sometimes, gentlemen, draw around me a sort of presentation of cha- 
racters and persons who composed the first administration of Washing- 
ton. I like to look back, I like to re-ascend to those original fountains, and 
drink in their pure waters. There is nothing that strikes my judgment, 
and my feelings, stronger than to go back to New York in April, '89. 

General Washington had been elected President, So uncertain was 
it, then, what would be the success of the new government, that the 4th 
of March went by four weeks before there was a quorum of either branch 
of Congress. And I have seen several original letters, addressed to 
members of Congress, urging them to come on, to form a government. 

Many of the choice spirits, and all the eminent men that he had known 
through the period of the Revolution, staunch, good, strong men, disciplined, 
tried in the great school of adversity, were there. There was Ham- 
ilton, a marvel, a perfect marvel ; young, a man almost self-educated, a 
man of intuitive genius ; for nobody knows when or where he obtained 
the learning, the knowledge which distinguished him at so early a period. 
General Washington saw he was fit to be placed at the head of the 
finances of the government; a great post, which was to decide whether 
the government could go on or not ; because the country was poor, and 
the Congress of the country was untried. At that time, there was no 
general flag, no law regulating commerce ; and the question was, whether 
any revenue could be derived from it. 

And then there was Gen. Henry Knox, who in September was placed 
at the head of the War Department, a good soldier. In the same 
month, Washington placed John Jay at the head of the Judiciary ; 
that gave confidence to the courts of the United States. No man ever 
ascended the bench of justice with a purer and higher character than John 
Jay. Afterwards, he sent him on a most important mission to England, 
and placed in that station Ellsworth, of Connecticut. He invited Jeffer- 
son, though not in the country, to become Secretary of State. In short 
if one might draw before him now the scene as it existed when Washing- 



40 

ton was inaugurated, and Bee Ins sedate and serene manner, a manner 
which to some, perhaps, Beamed austere ; and if we could have him be- 
fore us this day, and look at him as he sat in hi- first Cabinet, it would 
■ake one of the most striking historical pictures that could be committed 

to canvas. But we go farther back, to 71 ; '71 is the great era in our 
history, the time of the meeting of the first Congress in Philadelphia 

And those remarkable papers that distinguished that Congress, and 
iallv that capital paper address d to England, by John Jay ! There 
we see the great basis of that popular system which our fathers main- 
tained through the Revolution, and which constitutes the basis of the 
present systems of government in the United State-. 

Well, they fought through the Revolution; they came out conquerors, 
and peace took place in '83. Now, allow me to say that there is no more 
interesting period in our history, than that which ensued between the 
peace ol '83 and the establishment of this Government. 

The State- were all separate, all poor; none had any commerce. There 
was the debt of the Revolution unpaid, millions upon millions ; and the 
government then existing could not lay any tax, and could not collect any 
duties. 

Of all periods in our history, if you, young men, will study it, if those 
who hope to be distinguished in the history of our country hen after will 
study it, that portion, from the peace of '83 to the establishment of this 
Government, is fullest of instruction. 

Then it was that the ceaseless activity of Hamilton and Madison exhi- 
bited itself. They were the two great motive powers, the one north, 
the other south. Hamilton was ten years the younger, but he was the 
elder in everything but years, and Madison followed him in matters of 
the highest moment. 

If, gentlemen, you should have occasion to recur to the reports of Con- 
gress, in '83, upon the necessity of such a government as could lay uni- 
form duties, and make a uniform commerce, and establish a uniform go- 
vernment, BO that there should lie the one and the same commerce it: Ma-- 
BachasettS and in Virginia, there you will see all the elements laid down. 

It is in these pursuits, and in the study of these questions, that 1 have, 
perhaps, devoted more of my time than a more strict regard to myself 
ami m\' family would justify. But I must confess they have been the 
pursuit- of my life. 

Then we arrive at the assembly of gentlemen from several of the 
State-, in '86. There were Madison and Hamilton, ami a few others, 
twelve in all, I think, whose object was to bring the States to the same 
conclusion, that goods imported should pay a uniform duty. 

After a session of two weeks, they concluded to recommend the calling 
of ,-i convention to make a constitution of government for the whole United 
Stan-. That recommendation was sent to the old Congress, and by them 
transmitted t.> the States. And in May, 1787, the convention that formed 

the present Constitution met in Philadelphia. 

So the formation of the Constitution went mi by slow degrees, and wise 
and experienced public men came to the conclusion that these States 
could iint be prosperous wit hunt a ( lei 1 1 ral Government, and that ( rovern- 
menl founded upon the principle of a Union in thing- common ami gene- 
ral to all, and the States power and authority reserved wherever the 
geni ral Union, and tin- purposes of it, did not require an interference.* 



41 

These things are all historical. It is in the nature of things that men go 
on from step to step, according to the exigency of the case. They found 
a Union was necessary, a common commercial system necessary ; and all 
these things were provided for in the Constitution under which we live. 
If we look at it, we shall see it is a matter of compromise and agreement 
from first to last. The Northern States were commercial, and what had 
they to gain ? They had to gain a protected commerce abroad, and an 
exclusive right of the coasting trade, and of the domestic trade of the 
country, as against foreign influences. The South yielded all that. They 
agreed to place in Congress the entire control over the commerce of the 
country, both domestic and foreign. And therefore we all know that the 
first Congress that ever assembled, placed the entire coasting trade of the 
country in American hands. Foreign ships could not, after that, trade be- 
tween Boston and Virginia. And at that day the commerce was mostly 
New England and New York commerce, and so it has remained to this 
day. And now it employs a vast tonnage and thousands of ships. And 
all of it, from Maine to California, is confined to American vessels. No 
foreigner interferes. They could carry much cheaper and be more use- 
ful to Southern consumers ; for it is a fact that the vessels of Northern 
Europe, of Sweden, and the Hanse Towns, navigate the seas cheaper 
than we can, because they do not pay so much wages to their hands as 
we do, nor feed them so well. 

All this is preserved, and preserved under this Constitution, to the com- 
mercial interests of the North. Well, this is the great boon which my 
country of New England and yours of New York has received from the 
Government. It has carried a common flag all over the world. 

Then the Constitution went on to declare other thiogs. 

In the first place, it placed the foreign relations of the country in a 
right position. In the next place, it regulated uniform duties, and that . 
was of the utmost importance. Why ? There was the little State of 
Delaware that had a good port of entry, and Rhode Island which had an 
admirable port of entry. The State of "Rhode Island had the power of 
assessing duties high or low, as she saw fit, and by underbidding the State 
of New York and Massachusetts, could support her government, and edu- 
cate all the children in the State besides, from her revenues. While 
Rhode Island was out of the General Government, the State could regu- 
late the duties of imports into Newport, and could so underbid the State 
of Massachusetts, as to raise enough to maintain its whole government. 
It was, therefore, a great sacrifice to give up what was, in fact, a subsist- 
ence, and come in under a general system. But it was done. The North 
and South all agreed to it. That is what has made New York, Philadel- 
phia, and Boston. Gentlemen, there were compromises on both sides, 
but of that I have said enough to-day, as regards Southern rights acquired 
under the Constitution. Then, gentlemen, there is a larger view of this 
matter, a national view. We were no nation before '89. We had no 
flag, and there was no power in Europe that would treat with any State, 
nor had any State any treaty with any foreign power. 

It was only when the Constitution of the United States had been 
adopted; when the Government was organized under it, in the city of New 
York, in April, '89 ; when laws were made, imposing uniform duties in 
every port ; when there was a common flag, a common authority ; it was 
then, and only then, that we became a nation such as we now are. If 



42 

there is any man more conversant with history than I am, who can find 
oat any records, ancient or modern, who can refer to anything that has 
occurred since the Hood, so illustrative of the power of a great, united 
government, as our own history has shown, I should he glad to see it. 
Whether it be poetry, or fiction, or imagination, I defy any man to pro- 
mything equal to it from any source. 

And I may Bay, in consecpience of the allusion which has been made to 
me, that it has been in the study of these topics, of the principle- of this 
Constitution, of tin.' manner of its administration, that I have spent all that 
part of my life, not now a short one, which I could -pare from the severe 
duties of my profession ; and I must say. gentlemen, that I t_ r o back every 
day of my life to the model of Washington's administration. And I say 
to yon here to-night, were I to draw the character of a President. Bach as 
Washington, were he on earth, would approve, Washington himself should 
stand before me, and I would copy his master-strokes and imitate his de- 
signs, i Great applause.) 

It was a marvel, a perfect marvel, for a man to come up to the civil 
government from the head of our armies, who possessed so much modera- 
tion, so much caution, so much wisdom and firmness, and who at once 
entered upon the civil administration of the government with so much 
prudence, and in a manner to give so much satisfaction, and that has left 
on the whole a character more remarkable and more renowned than any 
other public man ever possessed. The reason was, that he possessed 
great good sense, sound judgment and absolute purity of motive; and a 
full confidence of his country cheered him and sustained him from the 
beginning to the end. 

Thus it has happened, we have had great models. In the course of 
succeeding times we may have great models. We have sometimes thought 
that this administration, or that, has gone wrong, but they all at length 
have worked into the same line, and we are now, after the lapse of 
more than sixty years, in the possession of the same Constitution, ade- 
quate to the accomplishment of all good purposes; and I think, if we 
have the good sense and forbearance to keep together, there is nothing we 
may not expect to attain to. "We have had dangers, but they have been 
overcome : and I llatter myself that we .-hall remember that our forefathers 
fought together, and achieved our liberties together, established this 
government together, that it was their united wisdom that gave the 
firsl impulse to the laws setting the government in motion. 

We have prospered under it, and have gloried under it, and it has 
raised our name, and fame, and character (I would not boa-t higher than 
that of any nation upon the earth. (Prolonged cheers.) I say it in 
the fullness of my conviction, there is not a name given under Heaven, 
which touches in BO thrilling a manner the race- of millions of the civil- 
ised people of the world, as the American nation, the country of Wash- 
ington. I hope to live to a good old age ; I hope to see nothing thai will 
mar that name ; bat if it be the plea-ure of God in his all-wise Provi- 
dence to casl a cloud over that prospect ; if it be in the future that this 
country, tin- glonOOS nation, this renowned government shall fall to 

pieces, thankful to Him for the life that [ have lived, I shall be more 
thankful if he -hall take me to himself before I see such a melancholy 

ata-trophe. (Great applause.) 



43 



MR. SPENCERS SPEECH 



DINNER GIVEN TO MR. WEBSTER AT ALBANY. 

Mr. Spencer rose and addressed the company as follows : — 
. I am about to offer a sentiment, my friends, which you expect from the 
chair. The presence of the distinguished guest whom we have met to 
honor, imposes restraints which may not be overleaped. Within those 
limits, and without offending the generous spirit which has on this occa- 
sion discarded all political and partisan feeling, I may recall to our recol- 
lections a few incidents in his public life, which have won for him the proud 
title of " Defender of the Constitution." ( Great applause.) 

When in 1832-33, South Carolina raised her parricidal arm against our 
common mother, and the administration of the government was in the 
hands of that man of determined purpose and iron will, Andrew Jackson, 
whose greatest glory was his inflexible resolution to sustain the Union or 
perish with it, (here the speaker was interrupted by deafening shouts of 
applause J in that dark and gloomy day, where was our guest found ? Did 
he think of paltry politics, of how much his party might gain by leaving 
their antagonists to fight the battle of the Union between themselves, and 
thus become a prey to their watchful opponents ? No, gentlemen, you 
know what he did. He rallied his mighty energies, and_ tendered them 
openly and heartily to a political chieftain whose administration he had 
constantly opposed. (Cheers upon cheers.) He breasted himself to the 
storm. Where blows were thickest and heaviest, there was he ; and when 
he encountered the great champion of the South, Colonel Hayne, in that 
immortal, intellectual struggle, the parallel of which no country has wit- 
nessed, the hopes, the breathless anxiety of a nation, hung upon his 
efforts ; and, oh, what a shout of joy and gratulation ascended to heaven, 
at the matchless victory which he achieved. (Here, for some time, the 
speaker was unable to proceed, in consequence of the incessant and tumul- 
tuous cheering of the company, who had spontaneously risen from then- 
seats.) Had he then been called to his fathers, the measure of his fame 
would have been full to overflowing, and he would have left a monu- 
ment in the grateful recollection of his countrymen, such as no statesman 
of modern times has reared. (Renewed applause.) But he was reserved 
by a kind Providence for greater efforts. For more than twenty years, in 
the Senate Chamber, in the courts of justice, and in tho executive coun- 
cils, he has stood sentinel over the Constitution. It seems to have been 
the master passion of his life to love, to venerate, to defend, to fight for 
the Constitution, at all times and in all places. (Cheers upon cheers.) 
He did so because the Union existed and can exist only in the Constitu- 
tion ; and the peace and happiness of the country can exist only in the 
Union. In fighting for the Constitution, he fought therefore for the coun- 
try, for the whole country. 

I may not speak in detail of the many acts of his public life which have 
developed this absorbing love of country. But there are a few of the pre- 



44 

which adorns his brow, that are so marked and 
prominent that they cannol be overlook id. 
Wh 11 he Bret assum 1 the duties of the Department of State, war was 
ing in oar horizon like a Mark olond, ready to launch its thunder- 
around as. The alarming Btate of our foreign relations, at that 
time, is shown 1 > y the extraordinary fact that the appropriation bills pa - 1 
by Ci the olose of Mr. Van Buren's administration contained an 

unusual provision, authorizing the President to transfer 'them to military 
In a few months afl ir our gn ist took the matter in hand, the 
ty with Lord Ashburton was concluded, by which the irri- 
tating question of boundary was Bottled, every difficulty then kn<>\s u or 
anticipated waa adjusted, and among otb >rs, :!i" detestable claim 
our vess sis for British b 'am in, was renounced. 

In connection with this treaty, I take this occasion, the first that has 
presented n~. It', to state som i tacts which are not generally known. The 
then administration had no strength in Congress; it could command no 
support for any <>t" its measures. This was an obstacle sufficiently formir 
dable in itself. But Mr. Webster had to deal with a feeble and wayward 
President, an unfriendly Senate, a hostile House of Representatives, and 
an accomplished British diplomatist. I speak of what I i irsonally know, 
when I say, that never was a negotiation environed with greater or more 
perplexing difficulties. He had at least three parti s !•■ negotiate with 
instead of one, to say nothing of Massachusetts and Maine, who had t" be 
consulted in relation to a boundary that affected th< ir territory. You 
know the result ; glorious, as it was to our country, how glorious was it also 
to the pilot that guided the ship through such difficulties ! (Prolonged 
cheering.) 

Y'U have not forgotten how the generous sympathies of our guest n 
awakened in behalf of the noble Hungarians, in their immi 

: the force of barbarism. And sure I am there is not a heart here 
that has not treasured up the contents of that world-renowned lei. 

dier Hulsemann, in answer to the intimations of threats by Austria 
to treat our diplomatic a spy ! What American was not | 

ing tli' countryman of the author of that letter: upon 

' the speaker for Borne tim 

1 - infess 1 cannol now think of that letter, without r g the 

dons a particular part of it produced upon my risible faculties. I 

i the comparison ■ the territories and national importance of 

the House of I! b and those of the United States of America. v 

universal shout of merriment here interrupted tin speaker again and again, 

and prevent sd him from proceeding for some time.) 

But I must stop the enumeration of the great de Is in th 
which we all participate, and by tlje results of which the whole civilized 
world has been b aefited. I must Btop, or the Betting sun would leave me 
.-till ■.:• tie' ta-k, and the rising Bun would find it unfinished. 

The :mi ■ soul-absorbing devotion bo the country and to the Constitution, 
as it> anchor of safety, ha- b sen exhibited bo r< cently and .-<< remarkably, 
that no "Hi' can have forgoti a it. In tin' view which I F th • mat- 

ter, it is quite immaterial whether we regard our guest a- having been right 
or wrong. Be deemed the course he took to be t] ae permitted to 

him by his sense of duty. On the other side were the jwith 

which, I them man, he had alv,a\> -\mpathized ; there al-o Were 



45 

the friends of his youth and of his age ; the troops of ardent and devoted 
admirers ; all whose love was equal to their reverence ; all the associations 
and affections of life were clustered there ; while on the other side a feeling 
of enmity, engendered by former contests and the defeat of all their 
schemes, nothing to allure or invite, but everything to repel, except one, 
and that was the Constitution of the country ; that, as he conscientiously 
believed, required him to interpose and prevent a breach of faith, as well 
as of the organic law, and avert a civil war that he believed was impend- 
ing. He hesitated not a moment, but at once marched up to the deadly 
breach, and was ready to sacrifice upon his country's altar, more than life, 
everything that could render life worth retaining. 

My friends, whatever other view may be taken of that step, every one 
knows that it conformed to the whole plan of his public life to know no 
North, no South, when the Constitution was in question ; and there is not 
a heart in this assembly that will not respond to my voice when I pro- 
nounce it heroism ; heroism of the most sublime order. It can be com- 
pared only to that of the Great Reformer who, when advised not to proceed 
to the Diet that was convoked to condemn him, declared that if fifty thou- 
sand legions of devils stood in the way, go he would ! (Prolonged and 
universal shouts.) 

How poor and insignificant are all our efforts to express our appreci- 
ation of such a character and of such services. They have sunk deep in 
our hearts ; they will sink deeper still in the hearts of the unborn mil- 
lions who are to people this vast continent, and when he and we sleep 
with our fathers, his name will reverberate from the Atlantic to the Paci- 
fic as the defender of the Constitution and of his country. 

Grentlemen, I give you a sentiment which I think will be drank in bum- 
pers and standing. (The whole assembly rose at once with acclamation :) 

" The Constitution of the United States, and Daniel Webster, inseparable now, 
and inseparable in the records of time and eternity." 



MR. WEBSTER'S RESPONSE. 

Fellow-Citizens, I owe the honor of this occasion, and I esteem it 
an uncommon and extraordinary honor, to the young men of this city of 
Albany ; and it is my first duty to express to these young men nw grate- 
ful thanks for the respect they have manifested towards me. Neverthe- 
less, nevertheless, young men of Albany, I do not mistake you, or your 
object, or your purpose. I am proud to take to myself whatever may 
properly belong to me, as a token of personal and political regard from 
you to me. But I know, young men of Albany, it is not I, but the cause ; 
it is not I, but your own generous attachments to your country ; it is not 
I, but the Constitution of the Union, which has bound together your an- 
cestors and mine, and all of us, for more than half a century. It is this, 
that has brought you here to-day, to testify your regard toward one who, 
to the best of his humble ability, has sustained that cause before the coun- 
try. (Cheers.) Go on, young men of Albany ! Go on, young men of the 
United States ! Early manhood is the chief prop and support, the reli- 



46 

anoe and hope, for the preservation of public liberty and the institutions 
of the land. Early manhood ia ingenuous, generous, just, [tlooksfor- 
ward to a long life of honor or dishonor; and it means, by the blessing 
of God, that it shall be a lit*'' of honor, of usefulness, and success, in all 
the professions and pursuits of lit'" ; and that it shall close, when close it 
must, with Borne claim to the gratitude of the country. Goon, then; 
uphold the institutions to which you were born. You are maul) and 
bold. Y<m fear nothing but to '1" wrong, dread nothing but to be found 
recreant to patriotism and to your country. 

Gentlemen, 1 certainly had no expectation of appearing in such an as- 
semblage as this to-day. It is nol probable, that for a long time to 
come, I may again address any large meeting of my fellow-citizens. 
It' 1 Bhould not, and if this were the last, or to be among the 
last of all the occasions in which I am to appear before any great 
number of the people of the country, I shall not regret that that appear- 
anoe was here. 1 find myself in the political capital of the greatest, most 
commercial, most powerful State of the Onion. I find myself invited to be 
here bj persons of the highest respectability, without distinction of party, 
[consider the occasion as somewhat august, I know that among those 
who now listen to me there are such as are of tin- wisest, the best, the m ist 
patriotic and the most experienced public and private men in the State of 
New York. Bere are governors and ex-governors, here are judges and 
ex-judges, of high character and high station ; and here are persons from 
all tin-' walks of professional and private life, distinguished for talent, and 
virtue, and eminence. Fellow-citizens, before such an assemblage, and on 
Buch an invitation, I feel bound to guard every opinion and every expres- 
sion; to speak with precision such sentiments as I advance, and to be 
careful in all that T say, that I may not be misapprehended or misrepre- 
sented. I am requi sted, fellow-citizens, by those who invited me, to sig- 
nify my BentimentB on the state of public affairs in this country, and the 
interesting questions which are before us. 

This proves, gentlemen, that in their opinion there are questions Bome- 

arising which ran. all party, and all the influences, and 

[derations, and interests of party. It proves more; it proves that, 

in their judgment, this is a time in which public affairs do rise in impor- 

. i the range of party, and draw to them an interest paramount 

to all party considerations. If that be not so, I am here without object, 

and von are listening to me for no purpose whatever. 

Th.-n, gentlemen, what h the condition of public affairs which mal 
necessOy and proper for men to met, and confer together on the state of 
i!e- country ? What arc tic questions which are overriding, subduing, and 
whelming party, uniting honest, well-meaning persons to lay party 
and eonfi r for the general public weal ? I shall, of course, 
fellow-citizens, nol enter at large into many of these questions, nor into 
any lengthened discussion ofthe state of public affairs, but -hall end 

ite what that condition is, what these questions are, and to pronounce 
a conscientious judgment of my own upon the whole. 

Thelasl l , fellow-citizens, passed laws called adjustment measures, 

orsettlemi nl measures ; laws intended to pu1 an end to certain internal and 
domestic controversies which existed in the country, and Borne of which 
had exisl 1 for a long time. These laws were passed by the constitutional 



47 

majorities of both houses of Congress. They received the constitutional 
approbation of the President. They are the laws of the land. To some, 
or all of them, indeed to all of them, at the time of their passage, there 
existed warm and violent opposition. None of them passed without heat- 
ed discussion. Government was established in each of the territories of 
New Mexico and Utah, but not without opposition. The boundary of 
Texas was to be settled by compromise with that State, but not without 
determined and violent opposition. These laws all passed, however, and as 
they have now become, from the nature of the case, irrepcalable, it is not 
necessary that I should detain you by discussing their merits and demerits. 
Nevertheless, gentlemen, I desire on this and on all public occasions, in 
the most emphatic and clear manner to declare, that I hold some of these 
laws, and especially that which provided for the adjustment of the contro- 
versy with Texas, to have been essential to the preservation of the public 
peace. 

I will not now argue that point, nor lay before you at large the circum- 
stances which existed at that time ; the peculiar situation of things in so 
many of the Southern States, or the fact that many of those States, had 
adopted measures for the separation of the Union ; the fact that Texas 
was preparing to assert her rights to territory which New Mexico thought 
was hers by right, and that hundreds and thousands of men, tired of the 
ordinary pursuits of private life, were ready to rise and unite in any enter- 
prise that might open itself to them, even at the risk of a direct conflict 
with the authority of this Government. I say, therefore, without going 
into the argument with any details, that in March of 1850, when I found it 
my duty to address Congress on these important topics, it was my conscien- 
tious belief, still unshaken, ever since confirmed, that if the controversy with 
Texas could not be amicably adjusted, there must, in all probability, have 
been civil war and civil bloodshed ; and in the contemplation of such a pros- 
pect it appeared of little consequence on which standard victory should perch ; 
although in such a contest we took it for granted tbat no opposition could 
arise to the authority of the United States that would not be suppressed. 
But what of that ? I was not anxious about the military consequences of 
things ; I looked to the civil and political state of things and their results; 
and I inquired what would be the condition of the country if, in this state 
of agitation, if, in this vastly extended, though not generally pervading 
feeling at the South, war should break out, and bloodshed should ensue 
in that extreme of the Union ? That was enough for me to inquire into and 
regard ; and if the chances had been but one in a thousand that civil war 
would have been the result, I should still have felt that that one thousandth 
chance should be guarded against by any reasonable sacrifice ; because, 
gentlemen, sanguine as I am for the future prosperity of the country ; 
strongly as I believe now, after what has passed, and especially after those 
measures to which I have referred, that it is likely to hold together, I yet 
believe firmly that this Union, once broken, is utterly incapable, according 
to all human experience, of being re-constructed in its original character, of 
being re-ccmented by any chemistry, or art, or effort, or skill of man. 
Now, gentlemen, let us pass from those measures which are now accom- 
plished and settled. California is in the Union and cannot be got out ; 
the Texas boundary is settled, and cannot be disturbed ; Utah and New 
Mexico are territories, under provision of law, according to accustomed 



48 

asago inform* r oases; and these things may be regarded as finally adjusted 
Bui t li< n there was another subject, equally agitatang and equally irritating 
whieh, ia its nature, must always be subject to consideration or pro] 
amendment ; and that is, the fugitive slave law of I860, passed at the same 
n of Conge 
Allow me to advert, very diortly, to what I consider the ground of thai 
law. JTou know, and I know, that it »;i- very much opposed iii the Nbr- 
thern States ; sometimes with argument not unfair, often by mere ebulli- 
tion of party, and often by those whirlwinds of fanaticism that raise a dust 
and blind the eyes, but produce do other efteot. Now, gentlemen, this 
tion of the propriety of the fugitive slave law, or the enactment of some 
such law, is a question that must be met. It- enemies will not let it sleep or 
slumber. They will " give neither Bleep to their eyes nor slumber to their 
eyelids " bo long as they can agitate it before the people. It is with them 
a topic, a desirabl i topic, and all know who have much experience in po- 
litical affairs, that for party men, ami in party times there i> hardly any- 
thing s.i desirable as a topic. (Laughter. ) now, gentlemen, I am ready 
t ■ • meel tin- question. 1 am ready to meet it ; I am ready to say that it 
was right, proper, expedient, just, that a suitable law should be passed for 
the restoration of fugitive slaves, found in fre.- States, to their owners 
in slaw States, [am ready t<> say that, because I only repeat the words 
of the Constitution itself, and 1 am not afraid of being considered a pla- 
giarist, nor a feeble imitator of other men's language and sentiments, when 
1 re] nat and announce to every part- of the country, to you, here, and 
at all times, the language of the Constitution of my country. (Loud 
cheers. | Gentlemen, before the Revolution, slavery existed in the Southern 
States, and had existed there for more than a hundred years. ^ e of the 
North were not guilty of its introduction. That generation of men, even 
in the South, were not guilty of it. It had been introduced according to 
the policy of the mother country, before there was any independence in 
the United States; indeed, before there were any authorities in the colo- 
tii - ipetent to resist it. Why, gentlemen, men's opinions hs\ - 

change,! ,,n tin- subjeot, and properly, the world has come to so much 

juster sentiments, that we can hardly believe, what is certainly true, 
that at the peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, the English Government 
insisted on tic fulfillment, to its full extent, of a condition in the treaty of 
theAssiento, signed at Utrecht, in 1713, by which the Spanish Govern- 
ment had granted the unqualified and exclusive privilege to the British 
G rnment of importing slaves into the Spanish colonies in America! 
That was not then repugnant to public sentiment ; happily suoh a contract 
would I"- execrated now. 

I allud' to this, only to show, that the introduction of slavery into the 
Southern Sim - i- qo! to he \i.dted upon the generation that achieved the 

Independence of this country. On the contrary, all the eminent men of 
that day regretted its existence. And you, mj young friends of Albany, 
if you will take the pains to go hack to the debates of the p' riod, from the 
meeting of the firsl Congress in 1774, 1 mean the Congress of the Confed- 
eration, to the adoption of the pj -. >,t Constitution, and the enactment of 
the first law under the existing Constitution, you and anybody who will make 
that D6C tch, will find that Southern men and South- in S 

a- representee in I longref -, lament, d the existence of slavery in far mon i ar- 



49 

nest and emphatic terms than the Northern ; for though it did exist in the 
Northern States, it was a feeble taper, just going out, soon to end, and 
nothing was feared from it ; while leading men of the South, of Virginia and 
the Carolinas, felt and acknowledged that it was a moral and political evil ; 
that it weakened the arm of the freeman, and kept back the progress and 
success of free labor ; and they said with truth, and all history verifies the 
observation, " that if the shores of the Chesapeake had been made as free 
to free labor as the shores of the North River, New York might have been 
great, but Virginia would have been great also." That was the sentiment. 

Now, under this state of things, gentlemen, when the Constitution was 
framed, its framers, and the people who adopted it, came to a clear, ex- 
press, unquestionable stipulation and compact. There had been an an- 
cient practice for many years, for a century, for aught I know, according 
to which fugitives from service, whether apprentices at the North, or slaves 
at the South, should be restored. Massachusetts had restored fugitive 
slaves to Virginia long before the adoption of the Constitution ; and it is 
well known that in other States, in which slavery did or did not exist, they 
were restored also, on proper application. And it was held that any man 
could pursue his slave and take him wherever he could find him. Under 
this state of things, it was expressly stipulated, in the plainest language, 
and there it stands ; sophistry cannot gloss it, it cannot be erased from 
the page of the Constitution ; there it stands, that persons held to service 
or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall 
not, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from 
such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, upon claim of the party 
to whom such service or labor shall be due. This was adopted without 
dissent, nowhere objected to, North or South, but considered as a matter 
of absolute right and justice to the Southern States, concurred in every- 
where, by every State that adopted the Constitution ; and we look in vain 
for any opposition, from Massachusetts to Georgia. 

Then, this being the case, this being the provision of the Constitution, 
it was found necessary, in General Washington's time, to pass a law to 
carry that provision of the Constitution into effect. Such a law was 
prepared and passed. It was prepared by a gentleman from a Northern 
State. It is said to have been drawn up by Mr. Cabot, of Massachusetts. 
It was supported by him, and by Mr. Goodhue, and by Mr. Sedgwick, 
of Massachusetts, and generally by all the free States. There was 
hardly a tenth of all the votes against it, if I rightly remember. 
It went into operation, and, for a time, it satisfied the just rights and 
expectations of everybody. That law provided that its enactments 
should be carried into effect mainly by State magistrates, justices of 
the peace, judges of State courts, sheriffs and other organs of State 
authority. So things went on without loud complaints from any quarter, 
until some fifteen years ago, when some of the States, the free States, 
thought it proper for them to pass laws prohibiting their own magistrates 
and officers from executing this law of Congress, under heavy penalties, 
and refusing to the United States' authorities the use of their prisons 
for the detention of persons arrested as fugitive slaves. That is to say, 
these States passed acts defeating the law of Congress, as far as was in their 
power to defeat it. Those of them to which I refer, not all, but several, nul- 
lified the law of '93 entirely. They Baid, " We will not execute it. No run- 



oO 

away slave shall be restored." Thus the law became a dead letter, an en- 
tire dead Letter. But here ni t ho constitutional compart, nevertheless, 
still binding ; here wee the stipulation, as solemn as words could form it, 
and which every member of Congress, every officer of the General Govern- 
ment, i\. rv wilier of the State Governments, from governors down to con- 
stables, are sworn to support. Well, under this state of things, in 1850, 
I was of opinion that eommoo justice and good faith called upon us to 
make a law, fair, reasonable, equitable, just, that should be calculated to 
carry this oonstitutiona] provision intoeffeet, and give the Southern States 
what they were entitled tu, and what it was intended originally they should 
reoeiye, that i-, a fair right and reasonable means to recover their fugitives 
from Bervioe from the States into which they had fled. I was of opinion 
thai it was the bounden duty of Congress to pass such a law. The South 
insisted that they had a right to it, and I thought they properly so insisted. 
It was no concession, no yielding of anything, no giving up of anything. 
When called on to fulfil a compact, the question is, will you fulfil it ? 
And, for one, I was ready. I said, t 1 will fulfil it by any fair and reason- 
able act of legislation. 1 Now, the law of 1850, had two objects, both 
of which were accomplished : First, it was to make the law more favor- 
able for the fugitive than the law of 1793. It did so, because it called 
for a record, under seal, from a court in the State from which the fugitive 
came, proving and ascertaining that he was a fugitive, so that nothing 
should be left, when pursued into a free State, but to produce the proof of 
his identity. Next, it secured a higher tribunal, and it placed the power 
in more responsible hands. The judges of the Supreme and District 
Courts of the United States, and learned persons appointed by them as 
commissioners, were to see to the execution of the law. Therefore it was 
a more favorable law, in all respects, to the fugitive, than the law passed 
under General "Washington's administration in '93. And the second 
object was, to carry the constitutional provision intoeffeet, by the author- 
ity of law, seeing that the States had prevented the execution of the for- 
mer law. 

Now, let me say that this law has been discussed, considered, and ad- 
judged in a great many of the tribunals of the country. It has been the 
subject of discussion before judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, the subject of discussion before courts the most respectable in the 
States. Everywhere, on all occasions, and by all judges, it has been hold- 
en to be, and pronounced to be, a constitutional law. So say Judges 
McLean, .Nelson, AVoodbury, and all the rest of the judges, as far as I 
know, on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States. So says 
the unanimous opinion of Massachusetts herself, expressed by as good a 
. mrt as ever sat in Massachusetts, its present Supreme Court, unaninmus- 
ly, ami without hesitation. And so says everybody, eminent for learning, 
and constitutional law, and good judgment, without opposition, without 
intermixture oi 'dissent, or difference of judicial opinion anywhere. Ami I 
hope I may be indulged on this occasion, gentlemen, partly on account oi 
a high personal regard, ami partly for the excellence ami ability of the pro- 
duction, to refer yen all to a recent rorj short opinion ut' Mr. Preo 
the District Judge of Vermont. (Applause.) True, the case before him did 

not turn so much on the question of the constitutionality of this law. as upon 
the unconstitutionality and illegality, and utter inadmissibility, of the notion 



51 

of private men and political bodies setting up their own whims, or their own 
opinions, above it, on the idea of the higher law that exists somewhere be- 
tween us and the third heaven, I never knew exactly where. (Cries of 
" good," and laughter.) 

All judicial opinions are in favor of this law. You cannot find a man 
in the profession in New York, whose income reaches thirty pounds a year, 
who will stake his professional reputation on an opinion against it. If he 
does, his reputation is not worth the thirty pounds. (Renewed laughter.) 
And yet this law is opposed, violently opposed, not by bringing this 
question into court : these lovers of human liberty ; these friends of the 
slave, the fugitive slave, do not put their hands in their pockets and 
draw funds to conduct law suits, and try the question ; they are* not in that 
habit much. (Laughter.) That is not the way they show their devotion 
to liberty of any kind. But they meet and pass resolutions ; they resolve 
that the law is oppressive, unjust, and should not be executed at any rate, 
or under any circumstances. It has been said in the States of New York, 
Massachusetts, and Ohio, over and over again, that the law shall not be 
executed. That was the language of a Convention in Worcester, in Mas- 
sachusetts ; in Syracuse, New York, and elsewhere. And for this they 
pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor ! (Laughter.) 
Now, gentlemen, these proceedings, I say it upon my professional reputa- 
tion, are distinctly treasonable. Resolutions passed in Ohio, certain 
resolutions in New York, and in the conventions held in Boston, are dis- 
tinctly treasonable. And the act of taking away Shadrach from the public 
authorities in Boston, and sending him off, was an act of clear treason. 
I speak this in the hearing of men who are lawyers ; I speak it out to the 
country ; I say it everywhere, on my professional reputation. It was 
treason, and nothing less ; that is to say, if men get together, and combine 
together, and resolve that they will oppose a law of the government, not 
in any one case, but in all cases ; I say if they resolve to resist the law, 
whoever may be attempted to be made the subject of it, and carry that 
purpose into effect, by resisting the application of the law in any one case, 
either by force of arms or force of numbers, that, sir, is treason. (Turn- 
ing to Mr. Spencer, and stamping with emphasis.) You know it well. 
(Continuing to address Mr. Spencer. The resolution itself, unacted on, 
is not treason ; it only manifests a treasonable purpose. When this pur- 
pose is proclaimed — and it is proclaimed that it will be carried out in all 
cases — ind is carried into effect, by force of arms or numbers, in any one 
case, that constitutes a case of levying war against the Union, and if it 
were necessary, I might cite, in illustration, the case of John Fries, con- 
victed in Washington's time, for being concerned in the whiskey insurrec- 
tion in Pennsylvania. Now, various are the arguments, and various the 
efforts, to denounce this law ; to oppose its execution ; to keep it up as a 
question of agitation and popular excitement ; and they are as diverse as the 
varied ingenuity of man, and the aspect of such questions when they come 
before the public. And a common thing it is to say that the law is odious ; 
that therefore it cannot be executed, and will not be executed. That has 
always been said by those who do not mean it shall be executed ; not by 
anybody else. They assume the fact, that it cannot be executed, to make 
that true which they wish shall turn out to be true. They wish that it 



52 

Bhal] not lie executed, and, therefore, announce to all mankind tliat it can- 
nol 1"' executed. 

Winn public men, and the conductors of newspapers of influence and 
authority, thus deal with the subject, they deal unfairly with it. Those 
who have types at command, have a perfect right to express their opinions ; 
but I doubt their right to express opinions, as acts. I doubt whether they 
have a right to say, not as a matter of opinion, but of fact, that this par- 
ticular law is so odious, here and elsewhere, that it cannot be executed. 
That only proves that they are of opinion that it ought not, that they hope 
it may not, be executed. " They do not Bay, " See if any wrong is inflicted 
on anybody by it, before we wage war upon it ; let us hope to find in its 
operation no wrong or injury to anybody. Let us give it a fair experi- 
t." Do any of them hold that language ? Not one. " The wish 
is father to the thought," Ihey wish that it may not be executed, 
and therefore they say it cannot and will not be executed. That 
B of the modes of presenting the case to the people ; and, in my 
opinion, it is not quite a fair mode of doing it. There are other forms 
and modes ; and I might omit to notice the blustering Abolition societies 
of Boston and elsewhere, as unworthy of regard ; but there are other forms 
more insidious, and equally efficacious. There are men who say, when 
you talk of amending that law, that they hope it will not be touched. 
You talk of attempting it, and they dissuade you. They say, "Let it re- 
main as obnoxious as it can be, and so much the sooner it will disgust, 
and be detested by, the whole community. 1 ' 

1 am grieved to say that such sentiments have been avowed by those 
in Massachusetts who ought to be utterly ashamed, utterly ashamed, to 
utter such opinions. For, what do they mean ? They mean to make tho 
law obnoxious ; so obnoxious that it shall not be executed. But still they 
BUggest DO other law ; they oppose all amendment; oppose doing anything 
that shall make it less distasteful. What do they mean / They mean, and 
they know it, that there shall exist no law whatever for carrying into effect 
this provision of the Constitution of the country, if they can prevent it, 
let the consequences be what they may. They wish to strike out this 
constitutional provision; to annul it. They oppose it in every possible 
form short of personal resistance, or incurring personal danger ; and to 
do this, they say the worse the law is the better. They say we have now 
a topic, and for mercy's sake don't amend the horrible law of 1850. 
(Laughter.) Then, again, they say, " We are for an eternal agitation 
and discussion of this question; the people cannot be bound bv it. 
Every member of Congress has the right to move the repeal of this as 
well as any other law." Who does not know this, gentlemen ? A mem- 
ber must act according to his own discretion. No doubt he has a right 
to-morrow, if Con gross were in Bessbn, to move a repeal of the Fugitive 
Slave Law ; but this take.- with it another fact. 

has just as much right to move to tear down the Capitol, until one 
Btone shall not be left on another ; just as much right to move to disband 

the army, and to throw the ordnance ;md arms into the sea. He has just 

at much right to move that all the ships of war of the United States shall be 

Collected and burned; BO illumination like that which lit up the walls of 

nt Troy. lie may move to do any of these things. The question is, Is 

be prudent, wfr friend of the country, or adverse to it f That is all. 



53 

And a greater question lies behind : Will the people support him in it ? 
Is it the result of the good sense of the Northern people, that the question 
shall have neither rest nor quiet, but shall be constantly kept up as a topic 
of agitation ? I cannot decide this question for the people, but leave 
them to decide it for themselves. And now, gentlemen,this is a serious ques- 
tion, whether the Constitution can be maintained in part and not in whole ? 
Whether those interested in the preservation of one part of it, finding their 
interests in that particular abandoned, are not likely enough, according to 
all experience of human feeling and human conduct, to discard that portion 
which was introduced, not for their benefit, but for the benefit of others ? 
That is the question. For one, I confess, I do not see any reasonable pros- 
pect of maintaining the Constitution of the United States, unless we main- 
tain it as a whole ; impartially, honorably, patriotically. Gentlemen, I am 
detaining you too long ; but allow me a few words on another subject, 
by way of illustration. 

The Constitution of the United States consists in a series of mutual 
agreements or compromises, one thing being yielded by the South, another 
by the North ; the general mind having been brought together, and the 
whole agreed to, as I have said, as a series of compromises constituting one 
whole. Well, gentlemen, who does not see that ? Had the North 
no particular interest to be regarded and protected ? Had the North 
no peculiar interest of its own ? Was nothing yielded by the 
South to the North ? Gentlemen, you are proud citizens of a 
great commercial State. You know that New York ships float over 
the whole world, and bring abundance of riches to your own shores. You 
know that this is the result of the commercial policy of the United States, 
and of the commercial power vested in Congress by the Constitution. And 
how was this commerce established ? by what constitutional provisions, 
and for whose benefit ? The South was never a commercial country. The 
plantation States were never commercial. Their interest always was, as 
they thought, what they think it to be now, free trade, the unrestricted 
admission of foreigners in competition in all branches of business with our 
own people. But what did they do ? They agreed to form a Govern- 
ment that should regulate commerce according to the wants and wishes of 
the Northern States, and when the Constitution went into operation, a com- 
mercial system was actually established, on which has risen up the whole 
glory of New York and New England. (Applause.) 

Well, what did Congress do under a Northern lead with Southern acqui- 
escence ? What did it do ? It protected the commerce of New-York 
and the Eastern States, first, by a preference, by way of tonnage duties, 
and that higher tonnage on foreign ships has never been surrendered to 
this day, but in consideration of a just equivalent ; so in that respect, with- 
out grudging or complaint on the part of the South, but generously and 
fairly, not by way of concession, but in the true spirit of the Constitution, 
the commerce of New York was, and the New England States were, pro- 
tected by the provision of the Constitution to which I have referred. But 
that is not all. 

Friends ! Fellow-citizens ! Men of New York ! Does this country 
not now extend from Maine to Mexico, and beyond ? and have we not a 
State beyond Cape Horn, belonging nevertheless to us as part of our com- 
mercial system r And what does New York enjoy ? What do Massa- 



54 

ehusetts an<l Maine enjoy ; They enjoy an exclusive right of carrying on 

the Boasting trade from State to State, on the Atlantic and around Cape 

Born to the Pacific. And thai is a moat highly important branoh of busi- 

. and Bonrce of wraith and emolnxm nt, of comfort and good living. 

man must know this, who is not blinded by passion or fanatacism. It 

is ihi> exclusive right to the coasting trad'' which the Northern States 

38, which was granted to them, which they have ever held, and which, 

Up to this day, there has been DO attempt to rescue from them ; it is this 
which has employed bo much tonnage and bo many men, and given 
support to so many thousands of our fellow-citizens. Now, what would 
vmi sayin this day of the prevalence of notions of free trade; what 
would vmi Bay, it' the Smith and the Wesl were to join together to repeal 
this law ? And they have the votes to do it to-morrow. What would you 
sav if they should join hands and say that these men of the North and 
England, who put this Blight on our interests, shall enjoy this exclu- 
sive privilege no longer? That they will throw it all open, and invite the 
Dane, the Swede, the Hamburger, and all the commercial nations of Eu- 
rope who can carry cheaper, to come in and carry goods from New York 
coastwise on the Atlantic, and to California on the Pacific? What do 
yon say to that ? 

Now, gentlemen, these ideas have been a thousand times suggested, 
perhaps, but if there is anything new in them, T hope it may be regarded. 
Hut what was said in Syracuse and Boston ; it was this: u You set up 
profit against conscience; you set up the means of living; we go for con- 
science.' 11 v Laughter.) That is a flight of fanaticism. All I have to 
answer is, that if what we propose is right, fair, just, and stands well with 
a conscience not enlightened with those high flights of fancy, it is none 
the worse for being profitable ; and that it does not make a thing bad which 
is good in itself, that you and I can live on it, and our children be sup- 
ported and educated by it. If the compact of the Constitution is fair, 
and was fairlv entered into, it is none the worse one should think, for its 
having been found useful. (Renewed applause.) Gentlemen, I believe, 
in Cromwell's tiim — for I am not very fresh in my recollections of that 
historic period ; L have had more to do with other dungs than some of you 
younger men that love to look into the instructive history of that age, but 
I think it was in Cromwell's time, that there sprang up a race of saints who 
called themselves - ' fifth monarchy men ;" and a happy, felicitous, glorious 
people they were ; for they had practised so many virtues, they wen? so en- 
lightened, so perfect, that they got to be, in the language of that day, 11 above 
Ordinances." That is the higher law of this day exactly. (Laughter.) 
< )nr higher law is but the old doctrine of the fifth monarchy men, of Crom- 
well's time, revived. They were above ordinances, walked about firm 
and spruce, self- satisfied, thankful to God that they were not as other men, 
but had attained so far to salvation a- to be "above all UeoeBBitj of res- 
traint or control, civil or religious." ( Renewed laughter.) 

Gentlemen, we live under a Constitution. It ha- made us what we are. 

What has carried the American flag all over the world ? What has con- 
stituted that unit of commerce, that wherever the stars and stripes are 

—en, they signify that it is America and united America ? What is it 
now that represents us bo respectably all over Europe .- in London at this 

mom nt, and all 0V6T the world ; What is it but the result of thOBC com- 



55 

rnercial regulations which united us all together, and made our commerce, 
the same commerce ; which made all the States, New York, Massachusetts, 
South Carolina, in the aspect of our foreign relations, the same country, 
without division, distinction, or separation ? Now, gentlemen, this was the 
original design of the Constitution. We, in our day, must see to it, and it 
will be equally incumbent on you, my young friends of Albany, to see that 
while you live this spirit is made to pervade the whole administration of the 
Government : the Constitution of the United States to keep us united, to 
keep flowing in our hearts a fraternal feeling, must be administered in the 
spirit in which it was framed. And if I were to exhibit the spirit of the 
Constitution in its living, speaking, animated form, I would refer always, 
always, to the administration of the first President, George Washington. 
(Vehement cheering.) And if I were now to describe a patriot 
President, I would draw his master-strokes and copy his design ; I would 
present his picture before me as a constant study ; I would present 
his policy, alike liberal, just, narrowed down to no sectional interests, 
bound to no personal objects, held to no locality, but broad,_ and generous, 
and open, as expansive as the ah- which is wafted by the winds of heaven 
from one part of the country to another. (Cheers.) 

I would draw a picture of his foreign policy, just, steady, stately, but 
withal proud, and lofty, and glorious. No man could say in his day that 
the broad escutcheon of the honor of the Union could receive injury or 
damage, or even contumely or disrespect, with impunity. His own charac- 
ter gave character to the foreign relations of the country. He upheld every 
interest of the United States in even the proudest nations of Europe, and 
while resolutely just, he was resolutely determined that no plume in the hon- 
or of the country should ever be defaced or taken from its proper position by 
any power on earth. Washington was cautious and prudent ; no self- 
seeker ; giving information to Congress according to the Constitution, on 
all questions, when necessary, with fairness and frankness, claiming no- 
thing for himself, exercising his own rights, and preserving the dignity of 
his station, but taking especial care to execute the laws as a paramount 
duty, and in such manner as to give satisfaction to all just and rea- 
sonable men. And it was always remarked of his administration, 
that he filled the courts of justice with the most spotless integrity, the 
highest talent, and the purest virtue ; and hence it became a common 
saying, running through all classes of society, that our great security is in 
the learning and integrity of the judicial tribunals. This high character 
they justly possessed, and continue to possess in an eminent degree from 
the impress which Washington stamped on these tribunals at then- first 
organization. 

Gentlemen, a patriot President of the United States is the guardian, 
the protector, the friend of every citizen in them. He should be, and he 
is, no man's persecutor, no man's enemy, but the supporter and the protector 
of all and every citizen, so far as such support and protection depend on his 
faithful execution of the laws. But there is especially one great idea which 
Washington presents, and which governed him, and which should govern 
every man in high office, who means to resemble Washington : that is the 
duty of preserving the government itself, of suffering, so far as depends on 
him, no one branch to interfere with another, and no power to be assumed 
not belonging to each, and none abandoned which pertains to each ; but to 



56 

preserve it and carry it uu i inarmed for the benefit of the present and 
future generations. 

Grentl>Mti 11, a wise and prudent shipmaster makes it his first duty to 
preserve the vessel which carries him, and his passengers, and all that is 
committed to bin charge ; to ^eep her afloat, to conduct her to her destined 
port wiih entire security of property and life ; that i- his first object, and 
that should be the object, and IS, of ewry Chief Magistrate of the Tnited 
States, who has a proper appreciation of his duty. His his first and high- 
«'-t duty is to preserve the < 'mi-tiiution which bears him, which sustains the 
government, without which everything goes to the bottom ; to preserve 
that, and keep it, with the utmost of his ability and foresight, off the 
rocks and shoals, and away from the quick-sands ; to accomplish this great 
end, he exercises the caution of the experienced navigator. He suffers 
iinthing to betray his watchfulness, or to draw him aside from the great 
interest committed to his care, but is always awake, always solicitous, 
always anxious, for the safety of the ship which is to carry him through 
the stormy seas. 

" Though pleased to see the dolphins play, 
He minds his compass and his way ; 
And oft he throws the wary lead, 
To see what dangers may be hid, 
At helm he makes his reason sit ; 
His crew of passions all submit. 
Thus, thus he steers his barque and sails 
On upright keel, to meet the gales !" 

Now, gentlemen, a patriot President, acting from the impulses of this 
high and honorable purpose, may reach what Washington reached. He 
may contribute to raise high the public prosperity, to help to fill up the 
measure of his country's glory and renown ; and he may be able to find 
a rich reward in the thankfulness of the people, 

" And read Iub history in a nation's eyes." 



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